WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CARNICA BEES AND CARNIOLAN BEES?

While this is a fairly frequent question that seems really complicated at first, the answer is actually quite simple.

There is no difference between Carnica and Carniolan honey bees.

Then why do we use two different names?
Due to their popularity, the Carniolan honey bees have many different names, but they all refer to the same subspecies with the latin name Apis mellifera carnica. The latin name is the reason why many people simply call them Carnica honey bees. The standard English name for our bees is Carniolan honey bees. Internationally, both names are understood and accepted to mean Apis mellifera carnica subspecies that originates in the region of Carniola (now the territory of Slovenia).

Carniolan honey bees are also called differently in each country they live in. In Slovenia, we call them by several different names: "Kranjska čebela", "Kranjica" (or Carnie) and "Kranjska sivka" or simply "Sivka" (The gray bee).  In Austria, Carniolan honey bees are called "Karntner bienen", "Carnica" or "Krainer bienen" and in other countries they are called by their appropriate local names.

Some also think that there is some difference between Carniolan and Carnica bees, because they are more often called "Carnica" in Austria.

While there is some smaller genetic difference between Austrian and Slovenian Carniolan honey bees, they are still the same sub-species. Since Slovenia has protected Carniolan honey bees as the autochtone bee sub-species and has forbidden all imports of honey bees from outside of the country, we presume that there are some differences between Slovenian Carniolan honey bees and Carniolan honey bees from other countries, where this protection has not been put in place.

For us, this protection ensures 100% purity of our Carniolan honey bees and protects their genetic potential from mixing with other bee subspecies.

This is why Slovenian Carniolan honey bees are so far one of the most authentic Carniolan honey bees in the world.