--- On Sat, 1/9/10, Dave Green <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> There are some who think that North America would be better
> off without honeybees, since they are an "invasive" species,
> and these people cheer with every bit of bad news about
> honeybees.

Not to perpetuate bad news, but the article below from 2007 
was submitted to,,,
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/HistoricalHoneybeeArticles
in April of 2008 because I felt beekeepers need to be aware of
these things so as to develop a informed response.  Weather I or 
other beekeepers agree or not, it may be a developing part of bee 
history here in the USA, concerning what the public's perception of honeybees may be in the future,  and it is important to be aware 
of this.  

It portrays the introduction of honeybees to 
America as an ecological disaster.

National Geographic
America Found and Lost
By Charles C. Mann.
http://www.charlesmann.org/articles/NatGeo-Jamestown-05-07-2.htm

Selected Excerpts Mentioning Honeybees:
Quoting far less than 10 percent, for learning purposes.
Conforming with copyright 'fair use' laws.

One answer emerging points to what historian Alfred Crosby
calls "ecological imperialism." The tassantassas replaced or degraded
so much of the native ecosystem that they made it harder and harder
for the Indians to survive in their native lands. As the colonists
bitterly came to realize that Virginia had no gold and that the
Indians weren't going to selflessly provide them with all the food
they needed, they began to mold the land to their needs. Unable to
adapt to this foreign landscape, they transformed it into a place
they could understand. In doing so, they unleashed what would become
a multilevel ecological assault on North America. Their unlikely
weapons in this initial phase of the campaign: tobacco, honeybees,
and domestic animals.

….The natives found themselves competing for food with packs of feral
pigs.

But the largest ecological impact may have been wreaked by a much
smaller, seemingly benign domestic animal: the European honeybee.

Best Wishes,
Joe


      

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