Despite advances in computer technology and the increasing availability of multiple-access taxonomic keys, traditional dichotomous keys remain the most often used taxonomic identification tools. On the other hand, there seems to be a lack of an editor of dichotomous keys, which is both freely available and easy to use. The DKey software was developed in order to alleviate this problem. A taxonomic key in text format can be imported to the software in order to edit it. Various editing options are possible, including: moving couplets, removing couplets, combining keys and renumbering keys. The software can output the key either in the traditional text format, ready for publication in a scientific journal, or in hypertext linked format, which makes identification faster and easier, due to the fact that pointers can be clicked in order to move to the next couplet. The DKey software should be useful for both taxonomic experts creating keys and those who use them for identification. The DKey software is freely available and open source.

Identification of honey bee (Apis mellifera) subspecies is important for their protection. It is also used by queen breeders to maintain some breeding lines. In this study, we compared three methods of subspecies identification based on the following: 17 microsatellite loci, COI-COII mitotypes and geometric morphometrics of forewing venation. The methods were used to classify colonies and workers from a mixed population of A. m. mellifera and A. m. carnica. There was highly significant correlation between results obtained using the three methods. More than three quarters of colonies were classified to the same subspecies by all three methods. The agreement was highest between microsatellites and morphometrics. More than 90 % of colonies were classified to the same subspecies by the two methods. There was also relatively high agreement (75 %) between microsatellites and morphometrics when workers were classified as pure subspecies or hybrids. In particular, one pure subspecies was never misclassified as other pure subspecies. The results presented here show that morphometrics can be used for detection of hybrids between A. m. mellifera and A. m. carnica.

Several honey bee (Apis mellifera) subspecies are in danger of local extinction because their feral population have almost completely disappeared. An important threat to the feral populations of bees is loss of habitat and loss of woodlands. In many places the only habitat suitable for honey bee nesting are rows of trees along roadsides. We studied a feral population of honey bees inhabiting avenues in northern Poland. We inspected 142 km of avenues and found 45 feral colonies. The estimated density of feral population inhabiting the avenues was 0.10 nest km⁻². Honey bees preferred to build their nests in trees with a thick trunk and a somewhat weak state of health. There was no strong preference of bees to any species of trees. We stress the importance of protection of existing avenues and creating new ones. This can provide suitable habitat not only for honey bees but also for other endangered species.