Impacts of hive honeybees on Tasmanian leatherwood Eucryphia lucida Labill. (Eucryphiaceae)

Despite honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) occurring as a feral and commercially managed species in many parts of Australia, the effects of honeybees on native Australian ecosystems are poorly understood. We examined the impacts of honeybee apiaries on Tasmanian Leatherwood Eucryphia lucida Labill. (Eucryphiaceae) by comparing commercial apiary sites with control sites >2 km from the nearest apiary. Feral honeybees were common at control sites (73% of honeybees feral) but were scarce at apiary sites (2%), and hive honeybees appeared to be competitively displacing feral honeybees near apiaries. Visit rates by native insects appeared to be un‐affected by the increased numbers of hive honeybees near apiaries. Standing crops of nectar sugar were significantly depressed at apiary sites. Pollen was rapidly removed from flowers at apiary sites resulting in full separation of the male and female flower‐phases (flowers completely dichogamous). In contrast, at control sites, pollen tended to remain in flowers into the female phase (flowers partially dichogamous). There was no difference in the total number of pollen grains deposited on stigmas or in percentage seed set among apiary and control sites. However, fruit set was elevated at apiary sites, possibly owing to reduced autonomous (within‐flower) selfing. Our study indicated that honeybees significantly reduce floral resources (nectar and pollen) around apiaries, although any competitive effects on native insects may have been obscured by large variation in the abundance of native insects among experimental sites.