MORPHOMETRIC AND ALLOENZYMATIC CHARACTERIZATION IN THE ALBANIAN HONEYBEE POPULATION APIS-MELLIFERA L

With the aim of determining their taxonomic status, honeybee populatio ns from Albania were compared with Apis mellifera carnica, A m macedon ica and A m ligustica populations from Croatia, Greece and Italy, resp ectively. Using an electrophoretic analysis of four enzyme systems and discriminant analysis of 15 morphometric characters of the right fore wing, we found that Albania represents an area of hybridisation betwee n the subspecies A m carnica and A m macedonica. Albanian territory sh ould be considered the southern border of the distribution of A m carn ica.