04/09/2020
Georgia is a homeland of the world renowned Mountain Grey Caucasian Honey Bee (Apis mellifera caucasica-Georgia). The complex climate and the biodiversity of flora in Georgia has led to the evolution of the breed and has given it extraordinary characteristics, making it unique compared to other honeybee breeds. The breed has a long tongue among honey bee species, which gives it the ability to reach nectar, where no other species can. However, this is not the only reason that it is one of the most productive honeybee breeds in the world.
Caucasian honeybees can work under less ideal conditions, such as cool temperatures and rain. The breed also produces propolis in larger amounts than others to protect the colony from harmful elements such as rain and cold winter conditions. These bees generally overwinter in a smaller cluster and with less honey. The queen is very frugal in her egg laying.
The Caucasian bee stores honey near the brood, typical for a mountain bee. It also uses a minimum number of combs for storing the honey; in other words, it doesn't proceed to a new comb until the previous one is com-pletely filled. Thus, at the end of harvesting there are no half or partially filled combs, a great advantage for extracting the honey. All these characteristics have been recognized at international exhibitions and the honeybee received three gold medals at the International Exhibition of Gardening in Erfurt (Germany) in 1961; at the 20th APIMONDIA International Congress in
Bucharest (Romania) in 1965; and at the 23rd APIMONDIA nternational Congress in Moscow in 1971.