Value of honey bee pollination to the Australian economy
Since the mid-1980s, economists have made numerous attempts at estimating the value of honey bee pollination to the Australian economy. The exercise is not straightforward,...
Published: 29 Aug 2014
Author(s): Oldroyd, Ben, Dr.
Download report PDF
DownloadAn Asian honey bee, Apis cerana, became established in Cairns in 2007. This new invasive species is likely to have various adverse effects on the natural environment and on the beekeeping industry. This Summary addresses two of the most important issues confronting the beekeeping industry: do interspecific matings occur between the invader and endemic A. mellifera and if matings do occur, does it matter? Previous studies in Japan showed that if there are no other males to mate with, A. mellifera queens will mate with A. cerana drones. After such matings eggs either fail to hatch, hatch into drones, or, rarely, into female clonal offspring of the queen.