In NSW competition from feral honeybees has been listed as a Key
Threatening Process on Schedule 3 of the Threatened Species Conservation
Act. For those interested the preliminary determination is reproduced
below.
Cheers
David Geering
Regent Honeyeater Recovery Coordinator
NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service
P.O. Box 2111
Dubbo NSW 2830
Ph: 02 6883 5335 or Freecall 1800 621 056
Fax: 02 6884 9382
Preliminary Determination
The Scientific Committee, established by the Threatened Species
Conservation Act, has made a Preliminary Determination to support a
proposal to list Competition from feral honeybees Apis mellifera Linnaeus as a
Key Threatening Process on Schedule 3 of the Threatened
Species Conservation Act.
The Scientific Committee has found that:
1. The introduced honeybee is widespread and abundant as a feral
species across New South Wales. Feral honeybees occur in colonies, usuallyc
entered on tree hollows, independently of managed hives that are
maintained by beekeepers (Paton 1996).
2. There is evidence that honeybees impact on indigenous species in
two broad ways, firstly via competition for tree hollows, and secondly viac
ompetition for floral resources.
3. Breeding colonies of honeybees occupy large hollows in trees.
These hollows are completely taken over by honeybees, and are removed fromt
he pool of hollows available to native species. Due to the long time
required for hollow formation e.g. 150 years for Blackbutt, Eucalyptus
pilularis (Mackowski 1984); Brown Barrel, E. fastigata and Messmate, E. obliqua
(Gibbons et al. 2000) and the long term nature of bee occupation (twenty to
fifty years)
this represents a long term loss of a critical resource. It has been
demonstrated that there is some overlap in hollow use between native faunaa
nd feral honey bees (Paton 1996, Wood and Wallis 1998, Soderquist 1999).
4. Due to the physiological characteristics of eucalypt growth,
hollow formation is a common trait of this group of plants (Gibbons 1999).
Australian fauna, particularly birds and mammals, make extensive use of
this structural element of habitat, and at least 20% of bird species
(Saunders et al. 1982) are hollow-dependent. All arboreal marsupials uset
ree hollows, and all except the Koala and the Common Ring-tail Possum ared
ependent upon them for shelter and breeding sites (Lindenmayer et al.
1991).
5. Threatened species which are likely to be affected by competitionf
rom honeybees for hollows include the Brush-tailed Phascogale, Phascogale
tapoatafa; Squirrel Glider, Petaurus norfolcensis; Yellow-bellied Glider,
Petaurus australis; Major Mitchell's Cockatoo, Cacatua leadbeateri; Glossy
Black Cockatoo, Calyptorhynchus lathami; Superb Parrot, Polytelis swainsonii;
and Regent Parrot, Polytelis anthopeplus. Populations of protected species
that may become threatened include the
Common Brushtail Possum, Trichosurus vulpecula; Greater Glider Petauroides
volans; and Sugar Glider, Petaurus breviceps (Garnett 1992, Oldroyd et al.
1994, Paton 1996, Soderquist et al. 1996,
Wood and Wallis 1998, Pyke 1999, Soderquist 1999).
6. Honeybees, both feral and managed, are frequent visitors at
flowers, and often remove 80% or more of the floral resources produced
(Paton 1996, 2000). This can result in competitive displacement of nativef
auna that use the floral resources, including honeyeaters (Paton 1993)
and native bees (Sugden and Pyke 1991, Paton 1996, Sugden et al. 1996).
7. Removal of pollen by honeybees has been shown to affect seed set
in several plant species. Seed set is reduced in Melastoma affine (Gross and
Mackay 1998), and Grevillea macleayana (Vaughton 1996, Whelan et al. 2000).
Feral honeybees may also reduce seed
set in species of Persoonia due to inefficient transfer of pollen (Bernhardt
and Weston 1996).
Honeybees can have neutral or beneficial effects on some Banksia species,
although these effects may become manifest only after honeybees
have depleted populations of native pollinators (Paton 1997, 2000).
In view of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 above, the Scientific Committee is of the
view that Competition from feral honeybees Apis mellifera Linnaeus could cause
species that are not threatened to become
threatened. Consequently, this process is eligible to be listed as a Key
Threatening Process on Schedule 3 of the Act.
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