One of the things I like best about this forum is that one learns something new every day. You have said bees are not native to North America, which is news to me.
How the heck did they get here and where did they come from?
Did the Pilgrims pack them in from England ("two bees or not two bees?")
“When the truth is bees are not native to North America!”
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I don’t know the history but bees used commercially for pollenization are EUROPEAN honeybees which are much larger than native bees here in North America ... I haven’t seen any stories about the smaller native bees , probably because they aren’t watched as closely... I can tell you that I have seen PLENTY of the smaller native bees the last few years (I’m in Central Florida) and I recently saw an article (AP I Think) in my local paper about large numbers of people taking up beekeeping as a hobby.
Bees are not native to North America, but that hardly matters. This is a worldwide problem affecting most nations, including ones where bees are native (like Britain).
Just because something is not “native” doesn’t neccesarily its bad. If you think about it, Humans aren’t “native” to North America either, but you do ok. Camels ARE native to North America (oddly enough) but they don’t live there now (at least not in the wild).
Yes..... with the euro migration came the honey bees
The most popular race today is the Golden Italian followed by the smaller and darker Caucasian.