In 2007, an incursion of the Asian honey bee was found in Cairns, Queensland.
The Asian honey bee has a native range throughout Asia. The Asian honey bee, Apis cerana, is the third smallest of the nine species of honey bee and is generally smaller than the European honey bee. Thus the potential exists for the conversion of minor "sleeper" weeds into major environmental problems.īumble bees cannot be imported to Australia and are prohibited by state legislation from being moved from Tasmania to other states or territories. With respect to introduced species, including declared noxious weeds, its pollination activity can enhance seed set. The bumble bee is a generalist feeder and has been recorded as feeding on both native and introduced plants, although it is unclear what impact it has on native pollination systems. The potential impact of the bumble bee on both native and introduced plants is associated with its flower preferences. In Tasmania, a study by Hingston and McQuillan (1999) found that bumble bees competed for a limited pollen resource with two species of native Megachilidae bees causing a displacement of the native bees. Other pollen and nectar gathering species include birds, bats, marsupials and a range of native arthropods but this niche overlap for floral resources does not necessarily indicate competition. Because the bumble bee forages on a wide variety of plant species it is likely that it will have an impact, both directly and indirectly, on the Australian environment to some degree. In other countries where it has been introduced, it forages on both native and introduced plant species. The feral populations have spread from sea level to 1450 metres in altitude and have a high level of ecological versatility. Bumble bees ( Bombus terrestris)īumble bees were introduced to Tasmania in 1992. Pollination services and the production of honey and associated bee products were estimated by the House of Representatives Inquiry into the Future Development of the Australian Honey Bee Industry as between $4 and $6 billion in 2008. Managed hives of European honey bees form the basis of an industry that provides significant crop pollination services around Australia. However, there is insufficient research about interactions between European honey bees and Australian biota to fully describe their impacts. European honey bees visit the flowers of at least 200 Australian plant genera and interact with a wide diversity of native flower-visiting animals.įeral European honey bees can outcompete native fauna for floral resources, disrupt natural pollination processes and displace endemic wildlife from tree hollows. The actual number of feral colonies is unknown but they are patchily distributed being least abundant, if not absent, from alpine areas and inland areas away from water. Copyright:: Denis Anderson European honey bee ( Apis mellifera)Įuropean honey bees have been present in Australia for about 190 years, but their distribution and abundance has increased dramatically over the last 80 years.
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