Honeybees from Europe, Africa and South America presently inhabit regions of North America, and are displaying varying abilities to hybridize. The various behavioral traits of these populations are important to the bee-keeping industry, and to pest management. Dr. Smith proposes a two-year study of hybridization between African and other honeybees in the New World. The study would utilize morphometrics and mitochondrial DNA analysis, and would result in a better understanding of the current state of these races and of the degree to which they have hybridized. The proposed work has implications for evolutionary studies of hybridization, for bee ecology and behavior, and for the bee- keeping industry. The project is timely because the status of the hybridization process can change so rapidly. The plan for combining mitochondrial DNA research with morphometric analysis will provide a new standard for work in this area.
