›› 2005, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (3): 401-406.

• RESEARCH PAPERS • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Harm of introducing the western honeybee Apis mellifera L. to the Chinese honeybee Apis cerana F. and its ecological impact

YANG Guan-Huang   

  1. Institute of Apiculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
  • Online:2005-07-12 Published:2005-06-20

Abstract: The author elucidated the situation of the Chinese honeybee Apis cerana F., which was seriously harmed by the western honeybee Apis mellifera L. introduced to China from Italy and other countries since 1896. The distribution area of the Chinese honeybees has reduced by over 75%, and population number reduced over 80% under the competition by the western honeybees. The decrease of the Chinese honeybees results in the reduction of plant total pollination and plant diversity. The author proposed to set up national nature reserves for protecting the genetic features of the Chinese honeybees, breed new Chinese honeybee varieties with fine characteristics as the western honeybees but keeping their local features using transgenic technology, and increase the Chinese honeybee population number gradually.   

Key words: Western honeybees, Chinese honeybees, introduction, competition, ecological impact, nature reserves