Foreign bumblebees, more efficient and productive than their Irish counterparts, are posing a threat to our native species.
Hundreds of bumblebee colonies are being imported into Ireland annually by Irish fruit growers in an unregulated trade, according to a report just published.
Now agriculture research body Teagasc and Carlow Institute of Technology have started a project on the management of imported bees, which have spread parasites and disease to native bee stocks in other countries.
A recent long-term survey of Irish bumblebees has indicated that a species once widespread is now increasingly restricted to the western part of the island.
"Three species of solitary bee have already become extinct and, of the 102 species found in Ireland, 30 are considered to be under threat," said the report in the summer edition of TResearch, Teagasc's science magazine.
The fruit growers have been forced to import bees because of a dramatic decline in native bee populations, linked to habitat loss and changing agricultural practices.
The imported colonies are mainly used for pollinating greenhouse strawberries, as well as peppers, tomatoes and outdoor crops.
"The origin of imported bees is unclear, but they are not native to the British Isles," the report said.
"Imported bumblebees can . . . out-compete native bumblebees as, in general, native species are relatively less efficient foragers and have a lower reproductive output," it said.
The new research, which will be funded by the Department of Agriculture, will determine the extent of the bumblebee trade to Ireland.
It will look at ways to improve pollinator efficiency and to reduce bee-drift from greenhouses and the number of bees escaping.
This will be done by informing growers of proper hive-disposal methods and containment of queens and drones.
The study will also attempt to determine the risk of hybridisation between native and imported bees. It will evaluate the potential for introduced bees to carry disease that may be passed to native bumblebees or honeybees.