Древовидный · [ Стандартный ] · Линейный Еще один бастион пал... :(, Варроа пришел на Южный Остров НЗ (читаем

[Docent]

Ниже я просто вставлю статью, появившуюся в местной печати.

В двух слвах -- буквально пару недель назад пчеловодная общественность НЗ была растревожена сообщением о первой официальной находке варроа на Южном Острове Новой Зеландии.

Оценки от ущерба для отрасли оценены в 350 млн. долларов в ближайшие 35 лет. Есть мнения, что число пчеловодов в новых условиях (теперь с варроа) может сократится на величину до 40%.

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Big problems with a tiny mite
28 June 2006

The discovery of the varroa mite in the South Island has serious implications beyond the beekeeping industry, writes Tim Cronshaw.


"Bugger". The expression slipped out of Kerry Norgate's mouth when the varroa word came down the phoneline on a black Friday morning.

The news that every South Island apiarist had been dreading brought a sinking feeling to the Motueka semi-commercial beekeeper. Laboratory tests had come back positive for the varroa bee mite at his Stoke hives.

A week after its discovery, Norgate remains remarkably calm. There is no point in being anything other than philosophical, he says.

"It had to get here sooner or later and had to happen to someone. At first it was a big shock – we were all hoping it would be later rather than sooner. It's here and we are doing our best to work with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) and everyone else."

The varroa mite was found during routine surveillance at two sites several kilometres apart near Stoke, in the Nelson area. The parasite attacks adult bees and their developing larvae, weakening and killing honey-bee colonies.

Norgate had no inkling of its arrival. Oddly, honey production was up around normal levels. The hives that were found to be infected were all healthy and strong. "It just came out of the blue," he says.

Afterwards, curiosity caused him to look at the tiny mite. Measuring only millimetres in length, it threatens to turn the honey-making and pollination industries upside down.

"I looked and had mixed emotions," says Norgate, who operates 250 hives in the Tasman and Nelson regions. "I wanted to see my first mite, but I didn't want to see it. It's small, but it can do damage."

Further tests on his other hives, at this stage, show them to be clear of varroa.

Norgate says it will be at least another week before he can make a decision about his beekeeping future.

The discovery that varroa had finally leapfrogged Cook Strait came as no surprise for southern beekeepers. For the last few years they had known that it would inevitably pay a visit from the North Island.

In one fell swoop it has blown the island's varroa-free status out of the water. MAF has estimated varroa's spread further south could cost $314 million over 35 years.

Laboratory technicians from Christchurch company Gribbles confirmed varroa's entry after testing a sticky board smothered in mites late on Thursday of last week. The next morning the test results landed on a MAF desk, stirring up a hornet's nest.

By the end of the day, testing of hives next to the infected colonies had begun. A controlled-movement area was immediately set up for the Buller, Marlborough and Tasman districts and Nelson city. All honey bees and beekeeping materials and equipment, but not retail packaged honey, now require a permit to move from the area.

From a field headquarters in the Nelson area, surveillance teams are intensively testing hives. Ten apiaries owned by eight beekeepers have now been confirmed as having mites after a search of a 10km radius around Stoke.

Varroa mites are killed by a miticide strip placed in each hive. As the mite falls, it lands on a sticky board placed on the hive floor. After 24 hours, the boards are removed, and sent to a lab for examination.

During the next 10 days, MAF will have five to 10 teams testing hives, with each team including two to three beekeepers.

Biosecurity New Zealand senior policy analyst Paul Bolger says more will be known about the extent of varroa's spread and whether it can be eradicated after a survey is completed.

Biosecurity teams hope to have significant results for the Nelson area by the end of next week, he says.

"The key factor affecting the viability of eradication is the extent to which varroa has spread."

Bolger says the survey will be extended if more varroa testing proves positive.

Varroa Agency chairman Duncan Butcher says beekeepers are already setting up a support network for Nelson apiarists. Southern hives may yet be sent to assist with pollination, he says.

"Depending on the end result, there will be a lot of support from the rest of the South Island."

Butcher says beekeepers such as Norgate will receive moral support so they do not feel isolated. He says the 10 confirmed mite findings appear at this stage to be confined around Nelson city.

The agency will continue to help with testing outside Nelson at the instruction of the Government, which has taken over leadership and funding of the response.

Varroa was first discovered in New Zealand six years ago in South Auckland. By the time the mites were detected, they had spread too far to be eliminated. Instead, the government put in place a programme to slow their spread in the North Island and to try to keep the South Island free of the pest. This failed last week.

Hearing the news, Leeston beekeeper Geoff Hantz had hoped it was an isolated case. He believed it was always a question of when it would arrive rather than if it would come.

Less cordial was the National Party biosecurity spokesman, Shane Ardern, who attacked Labour for its failure to prevent the spread of the bee mite. He says the Nelson incursion will have dire consequences for the economy and permeate the horticultural, viticultural and agricultural sectors, which rely on pollination.

"This will inevitably damage New Zealand's reputation with those internationally who expect us to have better border controls than this."

Unless the outbreak can be contained, the mite discovery will end a nice little earner for beekeepers sending bees north for pollinating crops such as the lucrative kiwifruit.

The bigger picture is the effect the mite will have on pastoral farming. Grass is the platform for agriculture. The bees pollinate the flowers and the seed drops on to the ground to regenerate. Without the bees, this cycle will be incomplete. Now that the mites are well established in the North Island and seemingly on a fast march in the southern isle, that may leave no obvious bee supply for pollinating.

Darfield crop farmer Andrew Gillanders says the question on farmers' lips is whether movement controls and a well-thought-out plan of action can contain the Stoke outbreak. There will be ramifications for arable farmers this spring if the mite outbreak widens and bees are unable to be moved into areas for pollination, says Gillanders, chairman of the Federated Farmers Grains Council of New Zealand.

"Long term it will hurt the pastoral sector because feral bees will be limited and, of course, with pollination of white clover and pasture paddocks there will be problems. For the seed industry it will mean that farmers will probably have to pay extra for pollination services – if they can get the bees. At the moment we hope to push it back to the Cook Strait."

Farmers are already adding up the risk of planting crops. But they are not looking yet at options away from cropping, says Gillanders.

"If there is a shortage of bees for pollinating services, arable farmers will have to look at other crops or other ways of pollinating their crops."

What other ways are there to pollinate the crops? "I'm not too sure," he admits. "The honey bee is so efficient. Whether we can study another insect or get something mechanical depends. All crops don't flower at the same time, so it's difficult."

North Island beekeepers have been able to get by, until now, because of the supply of bees from the South Island. If the supply tightens, there will be competition for varroa-free bees.

Gillanders says northern kiwifruit growers pay a high premium for bees and the concern is that croppers might be unable to match those bigger wallets.

"If we cannot grow the crops we will just have to grow something else. New Zealand is a pastoral country and we rely on growing grass for everything."

If varroa spreads, it will almost certainly end organic honey in New Zealand because all hives have to be treated. Home gardeners will also be disadvantaged by varroa making inroads into the honey-bee population.

Beekeepers are looking at treatment costs of $55 for each hive, including transportation. One estimate is that varroa will clean out 40 per cent of beekeepers.

Norgate is uncertain if he could survive if this big a chunk of his own business was removed. "I don't know. I would give it my best shot, but it could finish me."

[Bee happy]

Интересная статья, жаль только не понял ничего. Не владею аглицким языком...
Сочувствую, Docent! Без шуток!

[Docent]

За сочуствие спасибо. Сам-то я на Северном и пчеловодства без клеща не застал.
А вот "Южан" жалко. Хорошо им было.