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There is support for differential adaptation to local and regional climate and vegetation in the subspecies and races of the honey bee (Apis mellifera). Most of the information, however, is of anecdotal nature, and more scientific data are needed. The main aim of this project is to compare the resilience capacity of the indigenous Nordic bee (Apis mellifera mellifera) with other races that are commonly used for honey production in Scandinavia. We did parallell studies at five different bee hives in Sweden and Norway, and the data is now analysed.
One part of the project is to monitor pollen collection of the different races throughout the vegetation period, as a means to understand their preferences with regard to the local flora.