Tierarztl Prax Ausg G Grosstiere Nutztiere 2019; 47(05): 331
DOI: 10.1055/s-0039-1697706
Abstracts
Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Feral honey bee colonies in German beech forests

B Rutschmann
1   Lehrstuhl für Tierökologie und Tropenbiologie, Universität Würzburg, Würzburg
2   HOBOS, Universität Würzburg, Würzburg
,
PL Kohl
1   Lehrstuhl für Tierökologie und Tropenbiologie, Universität Würzburg, Würzburg
,
J Tautz
2   HOBOS, Universität Würzburg, Würzburg
,
I Steffan-Dewenter
1   Lehrstuhl für Tierökologie und Tropenbiologie, Universität Würzburg, Würzburg
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
18 October 2019 (online)

 

For a long time, it was a common belief that feral honey bee colonies (Apis mellifera L.) were eradicated in Europe through the loss of habitats, domestication by man and spread of pathogens and parasites. Interestingly, almost no scientific data were available, neither about the past nor the present status of naturally nesting honey bee colonies.

In the last 3 years we assessed the occurrence and density of feral honey bee colonies in 2 German woodland areas based on 2 methods, the tracing of nest sites based on forager flight routes, and the direct inspection of trees with black woodpecker cavities.

Our results show that feral honey bee colonies are more common than is generally assumed. They regularly inhabit tree cavities in near-natural beech forests at densities of at least 0.11–0.21 colonies/km2. We extrapolate that there are several thousand feral honey bee colonies in German woodlands. Their occurrence has implications for the species' perception among researchers, beekeepers and conservationists.