PERSPECTIVESD'AMELIORATIONGENETIQUEDELAPRODUCTIVITEDEL'ABEILLE DOMESTIQUEAPISMELLIFERAINTERMISSA

Abstract

ApismelliferaintermissaisanendemicgeneticheritageofNorthAfrica,adaptedtohighthermalamplitudes(5– 45 °C) and health pressures (Varroa, Nosema). In Algeria, yields (8–12 kg/colony/year) remain below Mediterranean standards, justifying a local genetic improvement strategy. This study defines objective morphometriccriteriatodiscriminatecoloniesaccordingtotheirproductivepotential. 152 workers from 63 colonies (16 apiaries; Tlemcen, Mascara, Sidi Bel Abbès) were analyzed. Fifteen measured characters (ImageJ) were processed using SAS v9.4 and R (STEPDISC, CANDISC, ANOVA, MANOVA). All characters are highly significant (p < 0.0001); tongue length (LP) dominates (R² = 98.55%; 6.42 ± 0.15 mm vs 6.12 ± 0.08 mm). Canonical discriminant analysis (Can1) explains 99.72% of intergroup variance (correlation = 0.9986); Mahalanobis distance (D² = 1423, D = 37.7) confirms a clear separation. Centroids: –20.10 (low) vs +17.62 (high). LP, WT and WD are the main contributors (coefficients: +3.9066, +3.4857,+3.4621). Classic morphometry constitutes an economical diagnostic tool for early sorting. To confirm genetic stability, these results must be complemented by molecular analyses (microsatellites, SNP) and heritability estimation. We propose a multi-character index S = 0.32·VSH+ 0.32·Hygiene + 0.18·Production + 0.18·Rusticity and a 5step protocol (phenotyping, discriminant score, selection nucleus, testing 2–3 generations, reintroduction). Expectedgain:+25%productivityover5yearswhilepreservinglocaladaptation