The BeeGuards experts Aleksandar Uzunov, Cecilia Costa and David Mifsud, together with Thomas Galea from Malta and molecular specialists Giovanni Cilia and Chao Chen, reported the finding of a fully developed colony of the Dwarf honey bee (Apis florea ) in Malta. This is the first in Europe and highlights that the spread of A. florea is a concrete risk for European beekeeping. In the case of Malta, it is even more dangerous since it may affect the already vulnerable small population of the endemic subspecies Apis mellifera ruttneri . Here is the link from the Open Access article https://www.researchgate.net/…/383272422_Apis_florea_in….
This finding is important for BeeGuards, as one of its objectives is the development of guidelines for prevention and preparedness for the spread of exotic parasites.