Honeybees, Apis mellifera Linnaeus (Hymenoptera : Apidae), of equatorial Africa

Morphometric and flight dimensional characters of worker honeybees, Apis me llifera Linnaeus, from equatorial Gabon were analysed by multivariate metho ds to characterize the population. A single morphocluster and a single flig ht dimension cluster were obtained. When these bees were grouped together w ith those of other countries of the region, again a single morphocluster an d flight cluster were obtained. All of the outlier samples were previously designated as Apis mellifera adansonii Latreille and completely surround th e Gabon samples, establishing the same subspecies membership for the latter . The bees of Gabon are morphometrically more homogeneous than in any other area of Africa.