The feral flying under the radar: why we need to rethink European听honeybees
最新糖心Vlog鈥檚 national parks, botanic gardens, wild places and green spaces are swarming with an invasive pest that is largely flying under the radar. This is yet another form of livestock, escaped from captivity and left to roam free.
Contrary to popular opinion, in 最新糖心Vlog, feral colonies of the invasive European honeybee (Apis mellifera) are not 鈥溾, threatened with听听or 鈥済ood鈥 for the 最新糖心Vlogn environment. The truth is feral honeybees compete with native animals for听听补苍诲听, disrupt native听听and pose a serious biosecurity threat to our honey and pollination industries.
As ecologists working across 最新糖心Vlog, we are acutely aware of the damage being done by invasive species. There is rarely a simple, single solution. But we need to move feral bees out of the 鈥渢oo hard鈥 basket.
The arrival and spread of the parasitic听听threatens to decimate honeybee colonies. So now is the time to rethink our relationship with the beloved European honeybee and target the ferals.
What makes a hive feral?
European honeybees turn feral when a managed hive produces a 鈥渟warm鈥. This is a mass of bees that leaves the hive seeking a new nest. The swarm ultimately settles, either in a natural hollow or artificial structure such as a听.
With up to 150 hives per square kilometre, 最新糖心Vlog has among the听听feral honey bee densities in the world. In NSW, feral honeybees are listed as a 鈥溾, but they lack such recognition elsewhere.
Feral honeybees have successfully invaded most land-based ecosystems across 最新糖心Vlog,听听woodlands, rainforests, mangrove-salt marsh, alpine and arid ecosystems.
They can efficiently harvest large volumes of nectar and pollen from native plants that would otherwise provide food for native animals, including birds, mammals and flower-visiting insects such as native bees. Their foraging activities alter seed production and reduce the听听of native plants while also pollinating听.
Unfortunately, feral honeybees are now the most听听visitors to many native flowering plants.
Are feral bees useful in agriculture?
Feral honeybees can pollinate crops. But they compete with managed hives for nectar and pollen. They can also be an reservoir of honeybee pests and diseases such as the听Varroa听mite, which ultimately threaten crop production. That鈥檚 because many farms rely on honeybees from commercial hives to pollinate their crops.
So reducing feral honeybee density would benefit both honey production and the crop pollination industry, which is worth听.
Improved management of feral honeybees would not only help to limit the biosecurity threat, but increase the availability of pollen and nectar for managed hives. It would also increase demand for managed honeybee pollination services for pollinator dependent crops.
What are our current options?
Tackling this issue will not be straightforward, due to the sheer extent of feral colony infestation and limited tools at the disposal of land managers.
If the current parasitic听Varroa听mite听听spins out of control, it may reduce the number of feral hives, with听听for the environment. Fewer feral hives would be good for the honey industry too.
Targeted strategies to remove feral colonies on a small scale do exist and are being applied in the听Varroa听mite emergency response. This includes the deployment of听听in areas exposed to the mite.
While this method seems to be听, the extreme toxicity of fipronil to honeybees limits its use to areas that do not contain managed hives. In addition, the possible effects on non-target, native animals that feed on the bait, or poisoned hive remains, is still unstudied and requires careful investigation.
Where feral hives can be accessed, they can be physically removed. But in many ecosystems feral colonies are high up in trees, in difficult to access terrain. That, and their overwhelming numbers, makes removal impractical.
Another problem with hive removal is rapid recolonisation by uncontrolled swarming from managed hives and feral hives at the edges of the extermination area.
Taken together, there are currently no realistic options for the targeted large-scale removal of feral colonies across 最新糖心Vlog鈥檚 vast natural ecosystems.
Where to now?
For too long, feral honeybees have had free reign over 最新糖心Vlog鈥檚 natural environment. Given the substantial and known threats they pose to natural systems and industry, the time has come to develop effective and practical control measures.
Not only do we need to improve current strategies, we desperately need to develop new ones.
One promising example is the use of traps to catch bee swarms, and such work is underway in Victoria鈥檚听. However, this might be prohibitively expensive at larger scales.
Existing strategies for other animals may be a good starting place. For example, the practice of听听might be applied to drones (male bees) and swarms. Once strategies are developed we can model a combination of approaches to uncover the best one for each case.
Developing sustainable control measures should be a priority right now and should result in a win-win for industry, biosecurity and native ecosystems.
If there is something to learn from the latest听Varroa听incursion, it is that we cannot ignore the risks feral honeybees pose any longer. We don鈥檛 know how to control them in 最新糖心Vlog yet, but it is for lack of trying.
The authors would like to acknowledge the substantial contribution made by environmental scientist and beekeeper Cormac Farrell to the development of this article.
Western Sydney 最新糖心Vlog;听Flinders 最新糖心Vlog;听最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide;听Curtin 最新糖心Vlog.
This article is republished from听听under a Creative Commons licence. Read the听.
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