what do you think about honey bee competing with bumble bees?

[Friar Tuck]

Citation: Journal of Insect Conservation, Volume 13, Issue 2, April 2009, pp. 177 - 181
Abstract: Numerous studies suggest that honeybees may compete with native pollinators where introduced as non-native insects. Here we examine evidence for competition between honeybees and four bumblebee species in Scotland, a region that may be within the natural range of honeybees, but where domestication greatly increases the honeybee population. We examined mean thorax widths (a reliable measure of body size) of workers of Bombus pascuorum, B. lucorum, B. lapidarius and B. terrestris at sites with and without honeybees. Workers of all four species were significantly smaller in areas with honeybees. We suggest that reduced worker size is likely to have implications for bumblebee colony success. These results imply that, for conservation purposes, some restrictions should be considered with regard to placing honeybee hives in or near areas where populations of rare bumblebee species persist.



there is a pdf on there site have a read...

https://dspace.stir.ac.uk/handle/1893/1758


just wanted to know your thoughts ..

 

[Skyhook]

Not just mine then! http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=9656

 

[Friar Tuck]

i did do the search before posting hay hoe
i just wanted to know what people thought of the evidence ?

 

[Midland Beek]

These results imply that, for conservation purposes, some restrictions should be considered with regard to placing honeybee hives in or near areas where populations of rare bumblebee species persist...

Deal with the high usage of insect poisons by farmers, climate change and loss of habitat ... and then it might be worth looking at relocating honeybee colonies.

 

[RoofTops]

I think there might be a case if there was a rare bumble on a site and a beekeeper wanted to turn up with a few hundred hives. Even if the outcome was not certain it would not be worth the risk. However, bumbles often forage on flowers honey bees ignore so I don't think it is a simple issue.

 

[Friar Tuck]

thanks for your imput

 

[Chris B]

If bumble bees are suffering through lack of forage then honeybees will suffer more as they don't work the same variety of flowers, they work shorter hours, and they need to make a surplus of honey, not just subsistence level like the bumbles. If honeybees aren't productive the beekeeper will move them or stop keeping them. So if competition is a problem it solves itself.

 

[louiseww]

Citation: Journal of Insect Conservation, Volume 13, Issue 2, April 2009, pp. 177 - 181
Abstract: Numerous studies suggest that honeybees may compete with native pollinators where introduced as non-native insects. Here we examine evidence for competition between honeybees and four bumblebee species in Scotland, a region that may be within the natural range of honeybees, but where domestication greatly increases the honeybee population. We examined mean thorax widths (a reliable measure of body size) of workers of Bombus pascuorum, B. lucorum, B. lapidarius and B. terrestris at sites with and without honeybees. Workers of all four species were significantly smaller in areas with honeybees. We suggest that reduced worker size is likely to have implications for bumblebee colony success. These results imply that, for conservation purposes, some restrictions should be considered with regard to placing honeybee hives in or near areas where populations of rare bumblebee species persist.



there is a pdf on there site have a read...

https://dspace.stir.ac.uk/handle/1893/1758


just wanted to know your thoughts ..

I have been studying bees (bumble and honey) on forage since starting beekeeping nearly three years ago and my extensive reading (some scientific papers) and personal observations suggest that bumbles forage on different plants from honeybees which suggests that there is no competition. Of course there are some that attract both! Watching Chris Packham's wildlife in Britain program there was also some interesting information that bumbles work a longer day (we have probably all noticed that bumbles are still about in the evening when the honey bees are tucked up in bed!) because they have a larger body mass and bigger pollen baskets. Honey bees are a little more fussy about their forage and have to be because the energy needed to access some flowers is just not worth the effort.
So my initial thoughts are that this is not the case
Regards
Louise

 

[Midland Beek]

extensive reading (some scientific papers) and personal observations suggest that bumbles forage on different plants from honeybees which suggests that there is no competition.

That might indeed be a very valid and entirely correct observation. However, if I were a bumble bee fanatic I might claim that some species of bumble bee lose out in competition with honeybees in certain districts/environments and particularly when forage is quite limited.

 

[Finman]

.
Awfull proplems! Bees are vanishing and too much bees vanish bumble bees!

Actually bumble bees move huge distances. It was just researched in USA that half of USA has same genepool. There is some microbe in USA which kills bumblebees.

We had a bumble bee research in North Finland a few years ago. The results were that bumble bees are vanishing and half of species were near extinction.

SO, how do you know that they are vanishing when you have only one reseach. Our Lapland is pure nature. What i killing bumble bees there. Then a large taiga continues in Russia and goes to Korea.

What *.* is killing all bumble bees in that great natural area.

yes, more money to continue bee vanishing researching. I cannot understand else.

 

[louiseww]

.
Awfull proplems! Bees are vanishing and too much bees vanish bumble bees!

Actually bumble bees move huge distances. It was just researched in USA that half of USA has same genepool. There is some microbe in USA which kills bumblebees.

We had a bumble bee research in North Finland a few years ago. The results were that bumble bees are vanishing and half of species were near extinction.

SO, how do you know that they are vanishing when you have only one reseach. Our Lapland is pure nature. What i killing bumble bees there. Then a large taiga continues in Russia and goes to Korea.

What *.* is killing all bumble bees in that great natural area.

yes, more money to continue bee vanishing researching. I cannot understand else.

They are certainly not vanishing in my garden which has been completely pesitcide/poison free for the last twenty years, I have counted four different species (don't quote me on that, would have to look it all up!) I love watching some of them disappear into holes in the lawn/wildlife area!
Louise