The Foundation for the Conservation of the Maltese Honey Bee has announced – Echoes of Ancestral Ruttneri DNA (Ruttneri aDNA Project) – an ambitious research project that will investigate the genetic heritage of Malta’s native honey bee through historical museum specimens and contemporary samples.

Abner Joe Buttigieg and Dylan Farrugia are the lead scientists for the study, working alongside a team of scientists to strengthen the scientific foundations for the conservation of the Maltese Honey Bee, Apis mellifera ruttneri.

The Foundation said that the project has received approval from both Heritage Malta and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage (SCH).

The research will draw on honey bee specimens collected in the 1960s and preserved at Heritage Malta’s National Museum of Natural History in Mdina. These specimens offer a valuable opportunity to investigate the bee’s genetic characteristics before the widespread hybridisation associated with the importation of other honey bee subspecies.

The Foundation explained that hybridisation occurs when native bees interbreed with bees of other subspecies. Over successive generations, continued hybridisation erodes the native population’s distinctive genetic identity and may ultimately lead to its genetic extinction. Comparing historical and contemporary genetic material could help researchers better understand these changes and provide a stronger reference for future conservation decisions.

The study will involve morphometrics, the measurement and comparison of physical features, including wing shape, followed by specialist genetic analysis of fragmented DNA from the historical specimens. The team will use techniques developed for ancient DNA research, the Foundation said.

It added that the research could help establish a historical genetic reference against which contemporary Maltese Honey Bees can be compared. In the longer term, this knowledge could guide the selection of colonies for conservation breeding programmes aimed at safeguarding the subspecies’ distinctive genetic heritage.

The Foundation expressed sincere thanks all the officers at Heritage Malta and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage who supported the project. ”Special thanks go to Mr David Cilia and Dr David Cardona of Heritage Malta for their guidance in developing the project and their help in arranging research involving the museum’s collection. Their contribution highlights how natural history collections can help address today’s conservation challenges.”

The project will be carried out in stages, with the initial stage financed by APIVITA. The Foundation expressed its gratitude for this support and said that it ”welcomes financial contributions from other organisations to help fund subsequent stages of the research.”

Photo: The Foundation for the Conservation of the Maltese Honey Bee

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