COSMOS MAGAZINE
Australia’s native bees are in trouble — and the culprit is buzzing in plain sight.
A native Australian female bee Megachile aurifrons, on Eremophila nivea. Credit: Kit Prendergast.
Feral European honeybees, introduced for honey and crop pollination, are muscling out native species, taking their pollen and leaving them weaker, smaller, and with fewer offspring.
Dr Kit Prendergast, a native bee expert, warns that high honeybee densities — especially in conservation areas — are harming native species already pressured by urbanisation.
A native Australian male bee, Megachile monstrosa, on Callistemon. Credit: Kit Prendergast.
Australia is home to around 2,200 native bee species, many still undescribed, with new species continuing to be discovered.
Research using bee hotels in Perth found that in areas with more honeybees, native bees produced fewer, smaller offspring — and more males — a sign of stress and long-term decline.
A native Australian female bee Megachile aurifrons, in a bee hotel. Credit: Kit Prendergast.
Experts say European honeybees, though often romanticised, are a feral livestock species in the wild and pose a serious ecological threat to native pollinators and biodiversity.