Incidence of honeybee (Apis mellifera) diseases and parasites in southern Iran

Ali A. Ahmadi

Three species of honeybee, Apis mellifera, A. florea and A. cerana, have been recorded in Iran. A. mellifera occurs in all parts except the vast desert area in central and eastern Iran. A. florea is found along a strip on the border that extends from Gilanegharb in the west to Baluchistan in the south-east. A. cerana has been recorded only from the Hezarmasjed and Aladagh mountains in north Khorassan (north-eastern Iran). Nixon, in 1982, published very useful preliminary world maps of honeybee diseases and parasites, and in 1983 she produced world maps of Varroa jacobsoni and Tropilaelaps clareae based on the available literature. The present note is part of a survey on honeybee (A. mellifera) diseases and parasites in southern Iran. The comments below follow the order used in Nixon's 1982 paper.