Problems with the introduction of exotic bee species and races.
As far as beekeepers are concerned, throughout the 20th century the other man’s grass was always greener – bees in other countries were viewed as more prolific, gentler, more disease resistant, less prone to swarming, more yellow, blacker. Indeed many beekeepers still think this way, and this has led 1 Bradbear, 2005. Bees and their role in forest livelihoods to the disasters of recent years, when races of bees, or diseases and parasites of honeybees have been spread around the world with serious consequences for the beekeeping industries , and indigenous populations of bees, in many countries. This has been caused entirely by the movement of honeybee colonies by man. For example, the mite Varroa destructor is a ‘natural’ parasite of Asian honeybees that survive in the presence of the mite . However, when particular races of the mite are introduced to European Apis mellifera honeybees (the bee used for beekeeping in most industrialized countries), the whole colony will be ki...
