Popular interest in the biology of the common honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) has surged in recent years due to the stark population decline of this important pollinator. Despite the value of honey bees to the agri-food industry, their populations cope with natural- and agriculture-induced stress, resulted in recent increases in reported mortalities. While honeybees have the remarkable ability to learn to associate floral cues, like flower color and odor, with food rewards but beekeepers have long recognized that honeybees may be susceptible to some natural plant toxins. Pesticide exposure is one of the main factors can provide a universal explanation for the apparent decline of honey bee populations. Moreover, the risk of pesticides to honey bees is especially alarming due to their long half-lives and presence in food and honey. The objective of this study was to compare the performance of Apis mellifera meda, imported Apis mellifera carnica and hybrid honeybee colonies (A. m. meda x A. m. carnica) in northwestern of Iran for detecting poisonous flowers. Study was conducted in the mountainous region of the Marivan, Kurdistan (35.7550° N, 46.5250° E). The location has an altitudinal average of 2050 m with an average annual rainfall of 800 mm. Data on foraging behavior and preference of pollen sources were collected during 2020 spring. Quality control and calculation of descriptive statistics was performed using the GLM procedure of the SAS statistical program. The results of the analysis of variance showed a significant difference between different genetic groups (p<0.05). Based on the mortality and foraging behavior analysis, Carniolan and Hybrid honey bee colonies showed better performance for detection poisonous flowers. The possible reasons for the advantage of the hybrid colonies could be due to heterosis and breed complementarity. Results suggests that honeybees may have the ability to react to toxins, but that this ability may mainly be after they have ingested the toxins. Therefore, it would be wise to design how to improve and conserve the local bees beside of focusing on crossbreeding of Apis mellifera meda drones with exotic Carniolan queens.
