[log in to unmask] (Doug Yanega)says
 
>With any luck, Keith Waddington and I will soon be initiating a study of
pollination ecology in the Everglades, and it is one of our suspicions that
honeybees will prove to be just about the only bee that visits Melaleuca
and Schinus, the two worst introduced plants in the area. It also seems
likely that those two plants will be Apis' primary food source, so it may
be a classic case of exotic species helping one another invade. Anyone have
any literature describing other examples of such a "synergistic invasion
syndrome"? (That is, where neither exotic would do nearly as well in the
absence of the other)
 
   There are probably more than two species involved here, and understanding
of the situation may require consideration of a third, *Homo apiculturistus*.
 
   Beekeepers have been very instrumental in the spread of purple loosestrife
(Not me! Honest!).  Just one determined individual who wants to keep this
plant could probably negate any efforts to eradicate it.  Especially if he
was mad about losing a honey source. Purple loosestrife honey looks like
Penzoil and doesn't taste much better, but it IS honey, and it tends to come
at a barren time.
 
   I suspect the same may be true of melaleuca.  Though it is also a low
quality honey, it does feed the bees and can be marketed as bakery grade.
 
   Some of the Mexican laborers who were applying weed killer in one
eradication program in South Florida got terrible chemical burns, and there
was a possibility one would lose his legs.  Beekeepers were hoping this would
stop the program.
 
    I am just tossing this in, without passing judgement.  I am certainly
pro-environment, as you know, if you've seen my pesticide writings.
 
[log in to unmask]     Dave Green