Morphological Characteristics Comparison of Population of Honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) in Kermanshah Province

Nowadays, the classification of organisms is based on the concepts of population. Honey bees (Apis mellifera) consist of more than 24 different subspecies. The most subspecies were classified based on morphological characters. Sampling was conducted from 10 areas, including Kermanshah, Songhor, Sahneh, Kangavar, Harsin, Paveh, Javanrood, Eslamabadghrb, Sarpolzahab and Gilangharb in 2014 in Kermanshah Province .In this study, ten morphological characteristics were used for discriminating of populations. The results indicated that the population of sampled bees from the Songhor, had the shortest length and width forewing (8.3mm and 2.9mm, respectively), and the longest proboscis (6.8mm). Correlations between morphological characteristics were studied. There was significant difference between characteristics of length and width of forewing (r2 =0.74, p=0.00) and lengths of index Cubital and hind leg (r2 =0.57, p=0.00). Discriminate functional analysis (DFA) differentiated 60.07 % of 10 area populations. Additionally, cluster analysis with UPGMA method separated two honeybee populations of Songhor and Harsin from other population completely.