Genetically pure population of European dark bee will be created in Bashkiria

UFA, 14 November 2018. /Bashinform News Agency, Elmira Sabirova/ translated by Tatiana Aksyutina/. In Bashkiria, a genetically pure population of the European dark bee will be created. This is one of the measures designed to stop the degradation of the breed.

In 2017 DNA studies of the bee colonies in the territory of the “Altyn Solok” reserve showed an intensive degradation of the above-mentioned breed. If according to the results of the analysis for 2000, the pure breed of the local population of the European dark bee was 95%, in 2017 it decreased to 88%, Marat Hasanov, the head of the Directorate for Protected Areas of Bashkortostan, said at a meeting of the Presidium of Bashkortostan Government on November 13.

To solve this problem, he proposed a project initiative to preserve the local population of the European dark bee. 10 special reproductive apiaries surrounded by lime stands will be engaged in its breeding, the press service of the Ministry of Agriculture RB informs.

In addition, the project involves wild-hive beekeeping tourism services and extraction of exclusive high-quality honey, as well as the organization of tourist routes to natural and cultural sites, which will increase the recognizability of the Bashkir honey and wild-hive beekeeping.

The launch of the project will allow reaching 95% of the purity of the aboriginal population of the European dark bee in 2025, Marat Hasanov underlined.