Beekeepers appear to have accepted that their attempts to eradicate the varroa bee mite in the upper South Island are no longer feasible.
Biosecurity New Zealand's chief technical officer is due to make a decision this week on the future of the varroa eradication programme. In August, the South Island Varroa Control Group and local beekeepers launched an eradication plan with $1.25 million of government funding.
Biosecurity NZ was seeking feedback from beekeepers before deciding the fate of the eradication programme.
But with the discovery of more infested hives in the region last month, beekeeper representatives said it was time to face the reality that the prospect of getting rid of varroa was dim.
Federated Farmers bee industry group chairman Lin McKenzie said he believed eradication of varroa was now not feasible.
"I don't believe there's a real decision to be made here. Once varroa moved outside the infected area, as it had in the Nelson region, it will be somewhere else you don't know about," he said.
A meeting for beekeepers will be held in Nelson on Thursday night at the Tahunanui Conference Centre, and Mr McKenzie said some "hard questions" would have to be asked. He said beekeepers had been let down by a Biosecurity NZ "blunder" which delayed a poisoning programme after the manufacturers of the chemical Fiprinol would not allow it to be used to kill feral bees.
Varroa Agency beekeeper representative Steve Olds said he believed control measures and surveillance of varroa should continue throughout the South Island, but an eradication attempt in the Nelson area would now be very difficult.
"That's probably the general view of everybody," Mr Olds said.
As well as government funding, the beekeeping industry and interested parties had contributed about $300,000 between August and November towards the fight against varroa, Mr Olds said.
Although a poisoning programme had not yet started, there have been baiting programmes and 300 hives from the Nelson area were sent to the North Island in September in a bid to get rid of the mite from the South Island.
Mr Olds believed some of that money was left, and expected to find out next week how much of the $1.25 million government funding was left.
South Island Varroa Control Group chairman Matt Davidson said people involved in the attempt to eradicate varroa realised the problem had got too big.
"We have to be realistic about what we're facing and whether we've got the time and resources to deal with it."
But he refused to comment on how varroa would affect the region until after Biosecurity NZ had announced its decision.
Biosecurity New Zealand senior policy analyst Paul Bolger said the department's chief technical officer would consider beekeepers' views but was not bound by them when deciding on the future of the eradication attempt.
He said varroa would remain in Nelson and was likely to spread to the rest of the South Island if the eradication attempt was dropped.
Beekeepers would be faced with the cost of treating hives annually, the horticulture industry could face increased pollination costs and most feral bee colonies would be eliminated, he said.
"You would have to live with varroa as the North Island does. Short term, if we don't eliminate it's likely there will be some management programme to slow the spread to the rest of the South Island."
www.hortnz.co.nz |
