• Zanathos@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    15
    ·
    11 hours ago

    Do you have a source on this? First I’ve read about honey bees being invasive.

    If the claim were about yellow jackets I would believe it as they are still pollenators but not as effective as honey bees. Not to mention I see way more wasps, hornets and yellow jackets than honey bees combined in a single season. I’ll see maybe one honey bee (if I’m lucky) a year in northern Ohio, but the latter are everywhere up here.

    • kuvwert@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      12
      ·
      3 hours ago

      Its much more nuanced than that. Honey Bees are not native, but that does not technically make them invasive by most definitions. Oversaturation on a local ecosystem can push out native bees in some cases (maybe)…

      https://www.technologynetworks.com/applied-sciences/news/native-north-american-bees-mostly-seem-untroubled-by-invasive-honey-bees-391892

      As for the claim about them not being effective pollinators… Ive not come across anything that would make me believe that yet. In fact my understand was that its specifically because theyre good pollinators that they outcompete native species. Without additional information those two statements are incompatible.

      They can spread diseases, but my understanding is that this is a result of the conditions the artificial colonies are kept in, not attributed to their inherent nature or biology, and might happen to any species that is subjected to those environments.

      “Colony collapses are a good thing” does not pass the smell test in any capacity and I would disregard that opinion without some significant evidence to back it up.

      • exasperation@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        42 minutes ago

        “Colony collapses are a good thing” does not pass the smell test in any capacity and I would disregard that opinion without some significant evidence to back it up.

        Yeah, it seems like a pretty naive zero-sum outlook on competition between native pollinators and European honeybee colonies maintained by beekeepers.

        Colony collapse disorder of honeybee colonies, if caused by land use and pesticides and pollution and things like that, can be an indicator of the native pollinator population also hurting from the same causes, rather than some kind of opportunity for native species to get the upper hand in the competition.

      • ameancow@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        2 hours ago

        Also, nobody is talking about beetles. Beetles are one of THE biggest pollinating insects and are suffering massive decline, but I guess people are far more concerned with bees because they’re kinda cute.

    • musubibreakfast@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      2 hours ago

      This guy is a giant wasp, don’t listen to him. He’s just trying to distract you so he can drink all the soda in your house

    • Jerkface (any/all)@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      5 hours ago

      Most people don’t go out of their way to learn about animal exploitation. But you definitely SHOULD. Please look it up and report back to us what you learned.