<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/may/20/australian-scientists-recommend-limits-on-urban-beekeeping-to-protect-native-bees-from-introduced-honeybees>
"Scientists have recommended limits on urban beekeeping after a peer-reviewed
study found introduced honeybees could be harming Australian native bees and
risked driving them to extinction.
The Australian research, published in
Frontiers in Bee Science, found native
bees living in areas with high densities of introduced honeybees had fewer
female offspring and a higher death rate in their first year of life.
Dr Kit Prendergast, the lead author of the study, said honeybees posed a threat
to the health and size of native bee populations – and there was a risk
population declines could eventually lead to local extinctions.
“By boosting honeybee numbers, you can be harming native bees,” said
Prendergast, a native bee scientist and conservationist at the University of
Southern Queensland.
More than 1,700 species of native bees have been identified in Australia, and
they play an important role in pollinating native trees and wildflowers. Unlike
the common domestic honeybee, which was introduced to Australia from Europe
about 200 years ago for honey and crop pollination, most Australian native bee
species aren’t yellow and black and don’t live in hives.
Native bees ranged from some of the smallest bees in the world to “really big,
bombastic ones” like the Dawson’s burrowing bee, a ground-nesting bee with a
4.5cm wingspan, Prendergast said."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics