From the ground up: Establishment of health and genetic baseline factors in commercial beekeeping operations across Southwest Saudi Arabia

he honey bee subspecies native to Saudi Arabia, Apis mellifera jemenitica, is threatened by genetic pressure from exotic subspecies imported by commercial beekeeping. Uncontrolled interbreeding may compromise advantageous adaptations, leading to new haplotypes unsuitable for Saudi Arabia's harsh climate. In this study, we analyzed the mitochondrial genetic lineage, as well as the levels of parasitization by the mite Varroa destructor, in honey bee colonies managed by commercial beekeepers across Southwestern Saudi Arabia. We sampled honey bee workers from five colonies at eleven apiaries from December 2022 – February 2023. We extracted mtDNA from workers for genetic analysis of the mtDNA COI-COII region and performed the standard alcohol wash method on each colony to assess Varroa mite infestation levels. We found that all of the 55 colonies analyzed belonged to the native subspecies. Analysis of the mitochondrial genome revealed ten new haplotypes at four of the eleven locations, suggesting the possibility of interbreeding between various lineages at those sites. Furthermore, the average number of Varroa mites per 100 workers across all sites was 1.95 ± 0.96, and was below the 3% infestation threshold at nine of the eleven locations, indicating a pattern of low Varroa levels in sampled Southwestern commercial beekeeping operations. This preliminary look at the genetic diversity and Varroa mite levels in this population is the first step in a selection process for the future implementation of a breeding program aimed at improving disease resistance and honey production of A. m. jemenitica colonies in Southwest Saudi Arabia.