Apis mellifera ruttneri is the endemic honey bee subspecies of the Maltese Islands. This population is endangered by hybridization with other honey bee subspecies that are frequently imported by beekeepers. It deserves conservation because of its unique behavioral traits including adaptation to the local climate. Conservation of honey bee subspecies is not easy, because it requires the identification of unhybridized source colonies by multiple morphological measurements or by molecular analysis. We present here a new method to identify A. m. ruttneri that is reliable and easy to use by both scientists and beekeepers. We have tested the new method using 312 workers collected from flowers in 7 locations and 52 managed colonies from Malta. Those bees formed two groups. One of the groups was interpreted as unhybridized A. m. ruttneri and the other group was interpreted as hybrids between A. m. ruttneri and imported bees. The new method to identify Maltese bees can provide a useful contribution to their conservation.

中文翻译：

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地方性马耳他蜜蜂（Apis mellifera ruttneri）的形态学鉴定

Apis mellifera ruttneri 是马耳他群岛特有的蜜蜂亚种。该种群因与养蜂人经常进口的其他蜜蜂亚种杂交而濒临灭绝。它值得保护，因为它具有独特的行为特征，包括对当地气候的适应。蜜蜂亚种的保护并不容易，因为它需要通过多种形态学测量或分子分析来识别未杂交的源菌落。我们在这里提出了一种识别 A. m. 的新方法。ruttneri 可靠且易于被科学家和养蜂人使用。我们使用从马耳他 7 个地点和 52 个受管理的殖民地的花卉中收集的 312 名工人测试了新方法。那些蜜蜂组成了两组。其中一组被解释为未杂交的 A. m. ruttneri 和另一组被解释为 A. m. ruttneri 和进口蜜蜂。识别马耳他蜜蜂的新方法可以为它们的保护做出有益的贡献。