ECOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF INTRODUCED HONEY-BEES

Honey bees (Apis mellifera L.), native to Eurasia and Africa, have bee n introduced to most of the rest of the world. Many plant species are used by introduced honey bees, which suggests a high potential for dis turbance of native plant/pollinator relationships. Few species are use d intensively, however, thus decreasing the opportunity for disturbanc e. Pollination studies show that honey bees are effective pollinators of some native plants and less effective pollinators of others; they a lso reduce floral resources in some species with little or no pollinat ion. Data are insufficient to show whether honey bee foraging on nativ e plants significantly alters pollen and gene flow, but unusual foragi ng behavior by honey bees is not evident compared to many other pollin ators. Honey bees do not physically damage plants; they are also unlik ely to increase hybridization of native flora. Pollination by honey be es probably contributes little to the success of most weeds. Experimen ts have not shown competition for nesting sites between honey bees and native fauna. The presence of honey bees, however, alters the foragin g behavior and abundance of some native fauna on flowers, but not stud ies have shown detrimental impacts of honey bees on population abundan ce of any native animals or plants. Anecdotal and quantitative reports of increased honey bee abundances on flowers compared with native fau na are often confounded with habitat changes induced by men.