Dear List people In The Netherlands there seems to be a growing awareness among those involved in nature conservation, that honeybees are serious competitors of wild bees. In several parks beekeeping is no longer allowed altogether. Recently, a colleague of mine was asked for an advice related to this matter, concerning a coastal heather area. Beekeepers used to have permission to place an unlimited number of hives there. The board of the park, while not intending to ban beekeeping altogether, would like to limit the number of hives now to a level that would not unduly interfere with the wild bee populations. The big question: how to establish that level? I can hardly expect that anyone of you could give a quick and fast rule (although I would like to be informed if any existed!), but my question to you is more down-to-earth: could you help me in finding references to studies where the effects of honeybee keeping on wild bee populations is described, and possibly quantified? Many thanks in advance Willem