Protecting Our European Dark Honey Bee: A New Statement from SICAMM

A Call to Action for the European Dark Honey Bee

At SICAMM, we are dedicated to the conservation, protection, and promotion of the European Dark Honey Bee (Apis mellifera mellifera). Our new pre-publication Statement for the Conservation and Restoration of the European Dark Honey Bee is a bold reaffirmation of this mission.

This document lays out both the urgency of conserving the European Dark Honey Bee and the practical strategies by which we can restore its populations across its native range. Whether you are a beekeeper, researcher, policymaker, or nature lover, we believe this Statement offers guidance and inspiration for collective action.

📄 You can download the full Statement here: https://www.sicamm.org/statement-download

Why This Statement Matters

Over time, rampant importation and hybridisation with non-native honey bee subspecies have threatened the genetic integrity of the European Dark Honey Bee. Today, many native populations are diluted or lost entirely.

The new Statement addresses this crisis by:

• Emphasising the ecological and genetic importance of the European Dark Honey Bee

• Arguing for limits or bans on non-native bee imports

• Describing conservation design models (core reserves, buffers)

• Prioritising restoration and natural selection methods over intensive breeding or instrumental insemination

• Advocating for collaboration across regions, scientific communities, and beekeepers

In short, it is both an appeal and a blueprint: a moral case and a technical guide.

What’s Inside the Statement

Here’s a brief tour of the Statement’s key themes:

1. The Threat We FaceThe document frames how hybridisation, gene flow, and mass imports have eroded the integrity of European Dark Honey Bee populations. It argues that without intervention, unique local ecotypes face extinction.

2. The Value of the European Dark Honey Bee: This subspecies carries adaptations to local climates, plants, disease pressures, and pollinator communities. Conserving it helps maintain genetic resilience and ecosystem stability.

3. Population Genetics & Conservation Principles: The authors explain why sufficient population size is critical, how drone influx must be managed, and how genetic drift and hybridisation can be mitigated.

4. Conservation Scenarios & Strategies: Different regions are at different stages of decline. The Statement presents scenario-based approaches (reserves, phased restoration, free-living populations) suited to each context.

5. Recommended Tools & Policies: Among the tools: strategic bans on imports, protected reserves with buffer zones, distributing genetically verified queens, promoting free-living colonies, and monitoring genetic purity. The Statement cautions against overuse of instrumental insemination in conservation contexts.

6. Implementation & Regional Adaptation: The authors stress that these guidelines must be adapted to local conditions—topography, legislation, climate, beekeeper networks—and that success requires cooperation at all levels.

   
   

How You Can Get Involved

This Statement is not meant to be passive reading—it’s a call to join us. Here’s how you can engage:

• Read and share the Statement (download link above)

• Encourage local beekeepers, associations, and policymakers to adopt or endorse its recommendations

• Participate in conservation initiatives in your region: forming buffer zones, distributing verified bees, monitoring genetics

• Spread awareness—hold talks, write articles, collaborate with schools or environmental groups

• Help us adapt the guidelines locally—the Statement offers a framework, but each region needs local solutions

  
  

We hope this Statement becomes a cornerstone in the effort to revive and preserve the European Dark Honey Bee across Europe. The challenges are real, but so is our resolve and together, we can ensure this native bee endures for generations to come.

Thank you for your support and commitment.

The SICAMM Board