[Pollinator] for discussion: should honeybees be allowed into conservation/protected areas?

Thu Mar 22 12:41:47 PDT 2012

Dear all:

I have observed that when nectar and pollen is scarce the competition
between native bees and Apis mellifera increases. There is not to much
problem when the food is abundant, is available for all bees. We should
consider as well the size of Apis populations colonies, up to 60000 or more.
I am sending you three references of the studies were made in the Yucatán
Peninsula by several colleagues and me about this competition:

Roubik. D. W.; Villanueva-Gutiérrez, R. 2009. Invasive Africanized honey bee
impact on native solitary bees: a pollen resource and trap nest analysis.
Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 98: 152-160.

Cairns, C. E.; Villanueva-Gutiérrez, R.; Koptur, S.; Bray, D. B. 2005. Bee
populations, forest disturbance, and africanization in Mexico. Biotropica 37
(4):686-692.

Villanueva-Gutiérrez, R.; Roubik, W. D.; Colli-Ucán, W. 2005. Extinction of
Melipona beecheii and traditional beekeeping in the Yucatán peninsula. Bee
World 86 (2): 35-41

The first two papers were made in natural reserves areas.

All the best,

Rogel Villanueva

El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR)

Quintana Roo, México

De: pollinator-bounces+rvillanu=ecosur.mx at lists.sonic.net
[mailto:pollinator-bounces+rvillanu=ecosur.mx at lists.sonic.net] En nombre de
ariella gotlieb
Enviado el: jueves, 22 de marzo de 2012 12:49
Para: Liz Day
CC: pollinator at lists.sonic.net
Asunto: Re: [Pollinator] for discussion: should honeybees be allowed into
conservation/protected areas?

Hi Liz and all,

I've been working in the Israeli Rift Valley for the past few years, the
epitome of scarce resources, and can certainly say that the effect of
honeybees on resource depletion rate there is great.

Pollen and nectar in plants that were heavily foraged by honeybees were
depleted much more quickly than ones that weren't.

Considering that honey bees start foraging much earlier in the day than most
of the local wild species, by the time the wild species are up and about,
most of the food is gone.

That has to affect their reproductive rate.

And one of the plant species I checked was not being pollinated by the HB at
all, despite them illegitimately cleaning out much of its pollen and nectar.

(Sorry, don't have the articles on it yet, they'll be coming later this
year.)

So, no I don't think it's such a great idea to put heaps of hives in
conservation areas if you want to keep your local plants and pollinators
unharmed.

Like Peter and David said, the problem isn't with a few feral hives, it's
when they show up in great numbers in comparison to wild species that they
become a pain.

Cheers,

Ariella

Ariella Gotlieb

PhD candidate

Tel Aviv University

ariellag at post.tau.ac.il

arigotlieb at gmail.com

On Thu, Mar 22, 2012 at 7:04 PM, Liz Day <lizday44 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

Might these results have been different in areas of scarcer resources (such
as Indianapolis(?)?
I find it hard to imagine that honeybees do not affect bumblebees in places
where Bombus forage appears rather scant.
Liz D.

>Here, one of the most invasive species, the non-native African honey
>bee, failed to impact native bee populations in Panama:
>
>> To provide replicate samples of local bee populations in a nature
>preserve, light traps operated continuously on Barro Colorado Island
>(BCI), Panama, collected bees for 17 years, including 10 years
>following invasion by African Apis mellifera. Honey bees appeared in
>light traps as the first swarms colonized the Panama Canal area. Their
>numbers followed seasonal trends shown in independent studies, thus
>indicating bee abundance and activity in a large area.
>
>> No measurable population-level impact of competition between this
>invading honey bee and native bees, despite many demonstrations of
>resource competition at flower patch and colony levels, changed annual
>abundances of all 15 native bee species. Native bee abundance did not
>decrease, nor did native bees show substantial reciprocal yearly
>change with honey bee abundance. Native bee populations did not
>decline during the 10 years after arrival of honey bees. In fact, the
>15 species jointly showed a slight increase during the entire 17-year
period.
>
>Do competing honey bees matter? Dynamics and abundance of native bees
>before and after honey bee invasion. David W. Roubik · Henk Wolda.
>Popul Ecol (2001) 43:5362
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