[Pollinator] FW: for discussion: should honeybees be allowed intoconservation/protected areas?

Thu Mar 22 09:05:24 PDT 2012

Dear Colleagues:

It was only a matter of time before this subject came up.  When discussing
it people should refer to studies in Israel and Australia.  Israeli
concerns are voiced by Dr. Amot Dafni <amots.dafni at gmail.com>.  He is also
concerned about the impact of non-native bumblebees in Israel imported for
the tomato industry.  Australian concerns were voiced by Dr. David Paton
nearly 30 years ago so see if his older papers are online.

If you want to see the impact of honeybees on Australian fauna go to
Western Australia where they've long-since escaped from domestication.
 Remember, this is a part of the world with a huge bee diversity
(Colletidae, in particular) and a wide range of nectar-feeding birds and at
least two species of pollen and nectar consuming marsupials.  Local
biologists insist that populations of native animals have declined since
the dramatic industrialization of the honey industry and the establishment
of huge, feral colonies.  Naturalists complain that, as the feral colonies
swarm and disperse and commercial apiarists are permitted to introduce
hundreds of hives into conservation areas, that native populations of
birds, insects and nectar-feeding marsupials vanish.  Certainly, I noted
the relative infrequency of native insects on Western Australian
wildflowers while studying pollination of native plants in WA in 2009 and
I've been going back and forth to Australia since 1977.

It may interest some of our bee-keeping members to know that Australian
beekeepers defend their honeybees with the exact same story.  it always
goes like this.  When I put out my hives I see honeybees nectaring with all
sorts of native insects.  Of course, they can never tell me what happens
next.  Do populations of native insects and birds remain the same once they
are in overwhelming competition with thousands or hundreds of thousands of
workers?  The impact of a couple of "home hives" dragged out into a wild
area is probably a lot different from the hundreds of commercial hives I've
seen acre after acre in northern Israel and through Western Australia.  In
Australia, jusst because the hives are placed in canola fields doesn't mean
the same honeybees won't prefer the native acacias and eucalyptus trees
flowering in adjacent reserves.

When the nectar level drops the bee-keeper simple piles the hives onto flat
bed trucks and takes them to new sites.  Do you think native, nest-building
bees and other animals have quite the same option?  In particular, some
insects require nectar at amazingly critical periods in their life-cycles.
 In Australia, many orchids are pollinated exclusively by male flower wasps
(Tiphiidae).  The females are wingless.  During the nuptial flight the male
copulates with the female and takes her for her first and only flight.
 When the flight is over he takes her to a flower oozing nectar and
actually feeds her before he releases her.  What if those flowers are full
of nectar gobbling honeybees by the thousands?  If we follow the
life-cycles of North American, flower visiting insects and hummingbirds I
think we will have similar stories to tell.

Would you allow farmers to graze their cattle, pigs, sheep and goats in
American conservation areas?  Of course, you wouldn't.  the destruction to
the native flora, and the deprivation, to native grass eaters (bison,
pronghorns, deer etc.) would be too great to sustain the area as a
conservation site... right?  Nevertheless, we retain this dewy-eyed view of
the non-native honeybee as something that "helps the flowers."  Therefore,
admission of honeybees to conservation areas remains viewed by some as an
exception to the rule that domesticated species must be kept out.  The fact
that honeybees are now in these sites doesn't make it o.k. to allow
apiarists to bring in commercial hives, does it?

Trust me, I've studied nectar-secretion in many flowers in many plant
families since 1975.  Some species make fresh nectar every day of their
life-spans but other make it the morning they open and once it's gone it's
gone.  All the pollen a flower contains was made while it was in the bud.
 Once the flower opens and an animal removes the grains it won't make one
more grain.  Therefore, you can't assume there's liquid or granular food
for all (honeybees AND natives) just because you see a myriad of flowers in
bloom in meadow.  Floral resources are limited - even in conservation areas.

Peter Bernhardt

On Wed, Mar 21, 2012 at 5:46 PM, <carloshvergara at yahoo.com> wrote:

> I´d rather say it with a recently published paper (attached):
>
> Potential negative effects of exotic honey bees on the diversity
> of native pollinators and yield of highland coffee plantations
>
> Dr. Carlos H. Vergara B.
> Departamento de Ciencias Químico-Biológicas
> Universidad de las Américas, Puebla
> 72820 Santa Catarina Mártir, Pue.
> MEXICO
> ++52-222-229-1524
> FAX ++52-222-229-1924
>  http://carloshvergarabee.googlemailpage.com/home<http://carloshvergarabee.googlepages.com/home>
>
>   ------------------------------
> *De:* Hilary <crumpetlee at gmail.com>
> *Para:* Michael Warriner <warriner.md at gmail.com>;
> pollinator-bounces+crumpetlee=gmail.com at lists.sonic.net; "
> pollinator at lists.sonic.net" <pollinator at lists.sonic.net>
> *Enviado:* Miércoles, 21 de marzo, 2012 14:55:08
> *Asunto:* Re: [Pollinator] FW: for discussion: should honeybees be
> allowed intoconservation/protected areas?
>
> Thank you for your well-considered response, including references to
> studies we need to know about. Data is always good to have at one's
> fingertips. :)
> Hilary Cox
>
> Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Michael Warriner <warriner.md at gmail.com>
> Sender: pollinator-bounces+crumpetlee=gmail.com at lists.sonic.net
> Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2012 13:53:31
> To: pollinator at lists.sonic.net<pollinator at lists.sonic.net>
> Subject: [Pollinator] FW: for discussion: should honeybees be allowed
>     intoconservation/protected areas?
>
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