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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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Subject:
From:
Peter Loring Borst <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 21 Mar 2018 20:55:04 -0400
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Hi all
I do not believe there is credible evidence that honey bees harm the ecosystems to which they are introduced. In fact, they generally improve pollination of available flora, leading to better seed set and plant proliferation. At the very least, we don't really have much information either way. Roubick states

> A serious threat to conserving pollination systems is the paucity of verifiable scientific data on pollinator abundance or effect.

However, he goes on to say:

> Taking a longer view of disturbance regimes, the native bees and wasps exploited for honey at the time of the Inca empire are the same species as those used for honey today. Evidently, neither colonization by honeybees nor habitat disturbance has caused loss of native species since the 1500s. More important, in French Guiana and Panama continuous studies performed in relatively intact forests for two decades showed no declines in abundance of native bees

Roubik, D. W. (2000). Pollination system stability in tropical America.

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