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The European dark bee (''Apis mellifera mellifera'') was domesticated in modern times, and taken to North America in colonial times. These big, dark-colored honey bees are sometimes called the German black bee, although they occurred originally from Britain to eastern Central Europe. There are three main races, namely *''mellifera'' (brown bee) *''lehzeni'' (heathland bee) *''nigra'' (black bee), which have local breeds, such as the Pomeranian brown, the Alps black, or the black Scandinavian. All of the subspecies belong to the 'M' lineage of ''Apis mellifera''. The European dark bee can be distinguished from other subspecies by their stocky body, abundant thoracal and sparse abdominal hair which is brown, and overall dark coloration; in ''nigra'', there is also heavy dark pigmentation of the wings. Overall, when viewed from a distance, they should appear blackish, or in ''mellifera'', rich dark brown. The aggressive feral hybrids with other subspecies can be distinguished by the lighter, yellowish banding on the sides of the abdomen, but this is often difficult. For breeding pure dark bees according to the standard, details of the wing veins are nowadays considered to be the only reliable distinguishing character. ==Character== Hybrids have a defensive character and have the reputation of stinging people (and other creatures) for no apparent reason. Some colonies are very "runny" on the comb and so excitable that beekeepers consider them difficult to work with. This characteristic is not, however, one that has been traditionally associated with the dark bee breeds, which were previously known for their rather easy handling (though they have never been considered as placid as the Carniolan honey bee). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「European dark bee」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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