[Pollinator] Competition by honey bees not significant

[Peter Loring Borst]

Although competition between honey bees and wild bees
is often expected, we did not find any evidence for significant
effects at the densities of bees and flowers we
studied. Further, no other study has unambiguously
shown negative effects of honey bees on the reproductive
success of wild bees, although resource overlap and
competitive exclusion from the most profitable flower
patches have been demonstrated.

Interspecific competition by
honey bees for food resources was not shown to be a significant
factor determining abundance and species richness
of wild bees.


Resource overlap and possible competition between honey bees and wild bees in central Europe
Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter · Teja Tscharntke
Oecologia (2000) 122:288–296 
© Springer-Verlag 2000