SUMMARY
In this study, some biochemical characteristics (total protein, total RNA, Catalase: CAT enzyme activity and malondialdehyde: MDA level) of Italian bee (A. m. ligustica) and Caucasian bee (A. m. caucasica), and Mugla and Anatolian bees (A. m. anatolica) from local honey bee races were investigated comparatively. Laboratory analyzes of biochemical characteristics were performed on worker bees aged 24 days old with 10 repetitions using appropriate methods informed in the literature. The amounts of total protein of bee races given above were 18.39±1.28, 20.71±0.63, 18.56±1.24 and 20.95±2.15 g/dL, respectively; the amounts of total RNA were 11.46±0.18, 12.10±0.26, 11.87±0.20 and 12.27±0.26 µg/µL, respectively; the CAT activities were 4.59±0.46, 5.12±0.67, 4.88±0.48 and 5.25±0.53 kU/g P, respectively; the levels of MDA were 0.52±0.04, 0.50±0.04, 0.48±0.02 ve 0.43±0.05 mmol/mg, respectively. Variance analysis showed that statistically significant differences among races in terms of the all characteristics examined. The results of CAT activity which is one of the indicators of antioxidant defense system, and levels of MDA which is an indicator of peroxidation of membrane lipids; and similarly total amount of protein also includes various proteins such as antioxidants and enzymes; it can be said that the Anatolian and Caucasian bee races (due to higher total protein, total RNA and CAT activities, and lower MDA level) are more resistant to various negative environmental factors (e.g. climate, flora, pesticide, etc.) than the Mugla and Italian bee races in the conditions of the Central Anatolia Region; there are significant differences between the bee races in terms of amounts of total RNA and this parameter can be also used in the characterization of bee races.