Body morphological characteristics of honey bees.

Abstract

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) consist of more than 24 dierent subspecies. Most of these subspecies have been classied according to their morphological characteristics, and morphological characteristics thus have an important role in the classication aspects of honey bees. Dierent sets of wing and body morphological characteristics have been used to characterize and classify the subspecies by many authors and for various reasons. �ese characteristics were dened over time and combined from various studies. Wing venation characteristics have been studied more intensely than other body morphological characteristics. Up to now there are no specic review articles focus mainly on body morphological characteristics. �erefore, the available information about sampling method, measuring method, importance and factors aecting these characteristics were reviewed to present essential conclusion and recommendations for researchers.