Discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of beekeeping with A. mellifera and A. cerana in Indonesia
Indonesia: There is a lack of data about beekeeping with A. mellifera in Indonesia, allthough it is reported, that beekeeping with the native Asian honey bee A. cerana decreased. A survey revealed that the remaining percentage of A. cerana in comparison to the introduced A. mellifera in Indonesia lays between 45 - 60% (Theisen-Jones & Bienefeld 2016). In Asia, beekeepers believe in the advantage of beekeeping with A. mellifera, thus the trend to give up the beekeeping with A. cerana and switch to A. mellifera instead increases. This practice leads to decreasing honey bee diversity and in further consequence to a replacement of native species in the ecological niche which they occupy (e.g. in Bhutan the beekeeping with the Asian honey bee decreased by 95%) (Theisen-Jones & Bienefeld 2016).
Nevertheless, there are several advantages of A. mellifera compared to A. cerana. The colony size of A. mellifera ranges from 30000 - 50000 (i.e. colony size of A. cerana rages from 2000 - 20000), they have higher productivity and therefore the harvesting of honey bee products is more profitable. A. cerana has a high tendency to abscond (triggered by tropical climate, pressure of pathogens/pests/predators, or insufficient forage-opportunities). A. cerana is also knwon to be more sensitive to Thai Sac Brood Virus (Theisen-Jones & Bienefeld 2016; Oldroyd & Nanork 2009).
The question is, regarding to the short-term gain from its products in comparison to the long-term costs on honey bee diversity (colony losses, disease introduction, ...) is A. mellifera the better alternative? Oldroyd and Nanork (2009) do not believe of a severe impact of A. mellifera on A. cerana colonies, because feral A. mellifera colonies in Asia are so far unknown. This fact may have different reasons: the climate of the tropics brings only minor variation in daylength and thus, European honey bees cannot further adapt on these conditions (e.g. brood production), due to the world wide distribution of Varroa spp., those parasitic mites also exist in Asia. If infestation of Varroa spp., or Tropilaelaps spp. stays untreated, the survival chance of A. mellifera colonies is impacted.
