On my part of the planet, which is Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada, we have no data to support much of any kind of analysis with respect to native pollinator species, their abundance, distribution, pathogen profiles, habitat, or the impact of our small scale apiculture. However, in the absence of much industrial agriculture, and an ecosystem dominated by black spruce and balsam fir forest as well as marshlands, there is not a vast amount of native or honey bee forage here. I seems that it is the disturbed landscapes - road margins, forest clearcuts (e.g., fireweed), gardens, hay fields, etc. - that provide forage for these species. What is natural about this? What are honey bees and native pollinator species competing for in this altered environment? I certainly wouldn't be managing honey bees here were it not for disturbed landscapes, and I suspect that these landscapes are responsible for the apparent abundance of bumble bees and other native pollinators I see, many of them sharing the same flowers that my honey bees do.
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