A feral honeybee invasion is threatening the survival of native Australian species, experts warn.

A Curtin University study completed by native bee ecologist Kit Prendergast has revealed that European honeybees, once thought to have limited impacts on the Australian environment, reduce food supply and impact offspring.

“In and around Perth, we have a really high density of feral honeybees,” Dr Kit Prendergast said.

“They are taking over nesting hollows that our threatened parrots need – like carnaby’s, cockatoos and 28 parrots – and they also take over nest boxes that people put out to help native parrots and possums as well as bats.”

The study placed specially designed bee hotels at 14 sites across Perth to record the impacts of honeybees on native species from spring to summer.

“We also studied 1000 native bee nests which provided valuable insights into the fitness of at least 25 species,” she said.

It revealed that in areas with more honeybees, native species had fewer female offspring, leading to higher mortality rates and the male bees were born significantly smaller.

“The more honeybees there are, the more they’re depleting the resources,” Dr Prendergast said.

“It’s really sad that there’s no national monitoring plan for native bees.”

European honeybees were first introduced to Australia in 1822 by European settlers.

Australian Native Bees Association (ANBA) president Megan Halcroft said that education of the public is key to protecting our native bees.

“People should have to do a course to house bees to ensure responsibility and correct management,” she said.

“Swarms of honeybees can go into cavities in trees, which are needed for a lot of our native birds and the honeybee colony will actually kill fledgling birds to take over a nest and establish another colony.”

“There are lots of insects that visit flowers and pollinate, and they are under threat by the efficiency of honeybees too,” she said.

One way to reduce honeybee populations and provide more food for native species is by increasing the resources native bees prefer and planting more native flowers.

“By doing this we can help make sure that our native bees get a leg up,” Dr Prendergast said.