Asian honeybees (Apis cerana - pictured below) are now pretty easy to see around Cairns, QLD, and recently I saw them daily as I’ve walked around Cairns city. A. cerana was accidentally introduced to Cairns in 2007, and despite a short-lived government funded eradication program that ended in early 2011, they have managed to do pretty well. Unfortunately that means Australia has them now for good...! Another invasive species to put pressure on Australian ecosystems and biodiversity (through things like competition with native species for floral resources and nest sites). Honeybee keepers in Australia are also concerned about the potential for a resident population of A. cerana to make honeybee pest and disease transmission more complicated to detect and manage. A few months ago, another incursion of A. cerana occurred, in Townsville, where authorities found a single colony on a ship in port. The colony was destroyed, along with the Varroa mites it was found to be harbouring. Varroa mites will not affect any of our native bee species, only introduced Apis mellifera and Apis cerana (it coexists with A. cerana, but kills or weakens A. mellifera colonies).
These are a collection of posts that have appeared on the Bee Aware Brisbane Facebook page over the last couple of years.
Wanyama wa asali wa Asia (Apis cerana - picha hapa chini) sasa ni rahisi sana kuona karibu na Cairns, QLD, na hivi karibuni niliwaona kila siku nilipokuwa nikitembea karibu na mji wa Cairns. A. cerana ilianzishwa kwa bahati mbaya huko Cairns mnamo 2007, na licha ya mpango wa muda mfupi wa serikali wa kuondoa, ambao ulimalizika mapema mwaka 2011, wamefanikiwa kufanya vizuri. Kwa bahati mbaya hiyo ina maana Australia ina yao sasa kwa ajili ya nzuri...! Mimea ya asili ya Australia inaweza kuathiri mazingira ya Australia na uumbaji wa wanyama (kwa njia ya ushindani na spishi za asili kwa rasilimali za maua na maeneo ya kiota). Wanyama wa asali nchini Australia pia wana wasiwasi juu ya uwezekano wa idadi ya wakazi wa A. cerana kufanya uambukizi wa wadudu na magonjwa ya nyuki wa asali kuwa ngumu zaidi kugundua na kusimamia. Mwezi mmoja uliopita, A. cerana ilitokea katika mji wa Townsville, ambapo mamlaka zilipata koloni moja kwenye meli iliyokuwa bandari. Koloni hiyo iliharibiwa, pamoja na chawa wa Varroa waliopatikana wakiwa humo. Vipande vya Varroa vinaweza kuathiri aina yoyote ya nyuki, lakini ni Apis mellifera na Apis cerana (inaishi pamoja na A. cerana, lakini huua au kudhoofisha makoloni ya A. mellifera). "Hii ni pamoja na ""Mashabiki"" na ""Wazalishaji"" katika ukurasa wa Facebook wa BeeAware Brisbane, ambayo ni sehemu ya kampeni ya BeeAware Brisbane."