[APWG] European honey bees as exotics and as exotic enablers

[Scott Lenharth]

Craig, you reminded me of the excellent book "The Forgotten Pollinators"
(Buchmann and Nabhan, Island Press).  It discusses the competitive effects
of Euro bees, the resulting drop in native bee populations, and the poor
pollination services provided by Euro bees.  Given the number of native
specialist bee pollinators, it seems likely that some native plant species
would produce less viable seed, providing exotic plants with a competitive
advantage.  Other authors have noted that another boost to exotics, helping
propel them to "invasive" status, might be their pollination requirements -
pollen that is spread via wind or by any generalist insect, is easily
collected and applied, etc.  American wild cherry is reported to be invasive
in eastern Europe; honeybees readily pollinate it, with the resulting
fruit/seeds consumed and spread by Euro birds.

I'm not sure how a Euro-bee-free zone could be created, but the various
diseases currently plaguing them might work towards this goal.

,,Scott


> Maybe we should look into honey bees, as exotic plant enablers?
>
> In the future, we may need to establish European honey bee-free zones, and
> keep bee colonies at a certain distance away from some of our North
> Americas natural areas?
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