| Technically you are right, there isn't much difference between them because anything we call a 'wild' honey bee in America, was once a 'domesticated' honey bee brought over by European settlers. Also, I did not mean to suggest wild bees are not in trouble too, my gripe is these articles, without mentioning, like to quote numbers commercial beekeepers have observed in their hives. They never explain to folks how the commercial bee-keeping industry works. They just want you to think everything is 'natural', and all these giant farms are being pollinated by wild bees alone. They aren't. You point isn't wrong, the wild and managed bees are essentially the same. The 'wild' honey bees are just domesticated ones that escaped, or didn't come back to the hive. The problem is commercial farming in America tends to be all 'mono-crop' and by it's nature has destroyed any biodiversity and any chance of wild bees thriving. So they depend on commercial beekeepers to come in and do the dirty work. It goes both ways, it's a mutually beneficial arrangement becuase the beekeepers get access to high quality food for their bees, which will then in turn produce more honey. Unless 75% of the hive dies or fails to return, and the colonies collapse. Which is happening all too often now. It's a really big problem to be sure. Sounds like you keep bees so you probably are more knowledgeable than me. Sorry, I just get mad because I can think of very few articles I seen on the topic that explain the topic in a reasonable way. It is clear they are trying to push their own agenda. Good information I found on the National Honey Board website: https://honey.com/newsroom/presskit/honey-industry-facts |