MSc Student Presents Research on Honey Bee Mitochondrial DNA at the Apimondia Congress 2025

Cristina Vella, an MSc student enrolled with the Biology Department at the University of Malta, participated in the Apimondia Congress, held between Tuesday 23 September and Saturday 27 September 2025, in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The important event, organised by the International Federation of Beekeepers’ Associations, brought together leading scientists, beekeepers and manufacturers of beekeeping equipment and products from around the world.

Cristina Vella delivered an oral presentation entitled “Mitochondrial DNA Variability in the Honey Bee (Apis mellifera L.), Implications for Conservation”. Her research described the results from the identification of over 909 samples of mitochondrial native honey bee haplotypes from the Mediterranean region and neighbouring areas.

 The results revealed several distinct native haplotypes, while also identifying the presence of foreign haplotypes. These findings point to the importation of non-native honey bee subspecies, an activity that can influence local genetic diversity and impact conservation strategies. Notably, a significant number of haplotypes typical of Apis mellifera ligustica and Apis mellifera carnica were found across multiple countries, suggesting these two subspecies are among the most frequently imported subspecies.

Cristina’s research was conducted under the supervision of Prof. Sandro Lanfranco and Prof. Marion Zammit Mangion. She expressed her sincere appreciation to MEDIBEES for their assistance and support throughout the project, to the beekeepers who collected and identified their native subspecies as well as to EJ Busuttil for sponsoring the research.