Cockatoo Care is helping feral bees to buzz off!!

Background

The European honey bee (Apis mellifera) is an exotic species that was introduced into the Australian environment over 170 years ago. Honey bees were used to pollinate plants grown by early settlers for food - a task that was previously done by hand. Honey bees are now kept commercially for honey production, but feral bees have also become an increasing threat to our native hollow-dwelling fauna, particularly black cockatoos, through competition for suitable hollows, and possibly also competition for nectar.

From the original hives, honey bees have swarmed and become feral pests. They have now spread throughout much of Western Australia and Australia, including the semi-arid interior eucalypt and rainforests, coastal heaths, farming and grazing land and urban areas. They are a particular nuisance during summer months when they seek water to cool their hive. Feral honey bees are generally aggressive, have a tendency to swarm and they are of little value for commercial honey production or for pollination of crops.

Photo courtesy of The Department of Agriculture, WA

Feral bees have become a significant problem because of the change from grass based grains, such as wheat, to flowering plants, particularly lupins and canola. Flowering plants produce both nectar and pollen, which has caused an increase in the numbers of feral bees as they use these areas as a major food source, swarming a lot more frequently.

At present, there are about 50,000 hives in Western Australia that are managed by beekeepers, along with thousands of feral bee colonies living in trees and other suitable nesting sites (Dept of Agriculture).

Whilst conducting field work on the black cockatoos, the WA Museum have come across large numbers of feral bee hives that have taken over tree hollows. This has meant a reduction in the number of suitable hollows left for the cockatoos and other birds and mammals to nest in. A number of black cockatoo chicks, honeyeaters and owls have been found dead in these hollows, often stung by feral bees.

Photo courtesy of R. Johnstone, The WA Museum.

Future Research

The Cockatoo Care team has built a task force to combat the feral bee problem.

Currently, the WA Museum is documenting each feral bee hive they come across during field monitoring. Using a GPS (Global Positioning System) they have been recording the hive locations, what species of tree they were found in, and the number of hives a tree might contain.

Some staggering results so far have seen up to 6 hives in one tree, and about 175 hives in 3-4km of creek line!

Further work will begin in 2004 that will include the development of a feral bee strategy which will address the various methods of control for feral bees, and research into effective methods of eradication and control.