Firstly I have changed the subject heading as anyone looking in the archives for the subject we are discussing is hardly likely to look under "Bees on TV".

John Mitchell wrote

> > The report is erroneous.

This is a strong possibility.

> > Bumblebees exist in Australia, but you have failed to observe them.

Highly unlikely.

> > Bumblebees were introduced to Australia and something happened to them. If
> so, we need to know more about it so that countries with native bumblebee
> populations can adjust vigilance over and control of Australian imports.

What has Australian imports got to do with this?  We have exactly the same sort of mellifera as say the USA because we imported them from the USA and other countries in exaxctly the same way as the USA did.  So if the USA mellifera bees have not wiped out the bumble bees in the USA then any we may send in the future are highly unlikely to react differently.  This is the sort of unsubstantiated gargabe that, at a later date, assumes scientific status.

If bumble bees were imported to Australia, and I say if, then they could have been wiped out by some predator in Australia.  We have cases now of leaf cutter bees being imported to Australia for lucerne pollination and I am told that some of our native wasps are parasitising them.  Now we are not going to export these leaf cutters nor our wasps so what is the point?

> > Your data are incomplete and your theories have failed to account for the
> many stresses that face native pollinators in Australia  and throughout the
> world in favor of an overly narrow focus that scapegoats honey bees.

When is the data complete?  Does anyone on this list claim to have completed all the necessary research to 100% prove something?

Sure there are great pressures on out native insects.  The first one is the human.  The human cuts down trees that were the native habitat.  The human sprays crops to kill pests which also kills native pollinators as well as our honey bees.  The human sprays areas for mosquito, sand fly and midge control and must be taking out the native pollinators.

With the above, what happens when some native pollinators are forced into a small area?  Does one outcompete the other?

Our contention here in Australia is that managed honey hives that are migrated in for a flow and taken out when the flow is finished do not have a detrimental effect on the fauna and flora of the area.

Trevor Weatherhead
AUSTRALIA