Three points of view on the impact of "invasive honey bees". No, Yes,
Hard to Say?

2001
Do competing honey bees matter? Dynamics and abundance of native bees
before and after honey bee invasion
D. W. Roubik and H. Wolda

> No measurable population-level impact of competition between this invading honey bee and native bees, despite many demonstrations of resource competition at flower patch and colony levels, changed annual abundances of all 15 native bee species. Native bee abundance did not decrease, nor did native bees show substantial reciprocal yearly change with honey bee abundance.

2004
COMPETITIVE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE INVASIVE EUROPEAN HONEY BEE AND
NATIVE BUMBLE BEES
DIANE THOMSON

> Biological invasions represent both an increasingly important applied problem and a tool for gaining insight into the structure of ecological communities. Although competitive interactions between invasive and native species are considered among the most important mechanisms driving invasion dynamics, such interactions are in general poorly understood. ... These results provide evidence that Apis competitively suppresses a native social bee known to be an important pollinator, with the potential for cascading effects on native plant communities.

2006
Detecting the effects of introduced species: a case study of
competition between Apis and Bombus
Diane M. Thomson

> Correlations between numbers of Apis foragers and numbers of Bombus foragers were highly variable, but I detected a significant negative relationship in only one of the seven months observed. The correlational data in particular completely failed to predict the effects observed in the experimental study. This work suggests that great caution is warranted in making assessments of invasion impact on the basis of spatial or temporal correlations between invasive and native species. Thus, investing in even small and limited experimental studies may be more valuable than extensive observational work in quantifying invasion impacts.

-- 
Peter Loring Borst
Ithaca, NY  USA
peterloringborst.com

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

Access BEE-L directly at:
http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?A0=BEE-L