This ought to generate some thought among beekeepers….
An article, following on from a 2003 ABC-TV’s Catalyst series by Jonica Newby, highlights:
“Honey bees are not so sweet when they escape into the Australian bush.
European honey bees are not native to Australia but they play a very important economic role, not just as producers of honey, but also as pollinators of valuable agricultural crops.
Yet when honey bees escape their hives and go wild in the bush, they become lethal competitors to some of Australia’s most beautiful and endangered native birds.”
The 2015 update discusses some novel and maybe not so novel approaches to this problem: “Quite apart from the risk to native birds, the feral bee problem remains something of a timebomb”
Birds versus bees › Science Features (ABC Science)