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Subject:
From:
tomas mozer <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 10 May 2000 14:46:17 -0400
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posted for information/discussion purposes only from:

http://news.excite.ca/news/ap/000508/00/bee-act

Updated: Mon, May 08 12:40 AM EDT

VICTORIA (CP) - Vancouver Island honey bees seem to have won a reprieve from
a
parasite that could have wiped out colonies and wreaked havoc on crops.

But now some beekeepers are worried about a change to provincial laws that
will
suspend a quarantine currently safeguarding the area's bees.

Vigilant testing and treatment of colonies by Island beekeepers has warded
off an
infestation of blood-sucking, pinhead-sized mites.

The Varroa jacobsconi mites attack honeybee larvae in the hive, deforming
them
and shortening the bees' lives.

In 1997, the minute parasites were discovered in about 1,000 area bee
colonies.

There were fears at the time the entire Island would be infected with the
mites in
three to five years.

The mites will never be eliminated but a united front by Island beekeepers
has
contributed to their decline.

Vic Macdonald, president of the Capital Regional Beekeepers' Association,
said the
government has let the area's beekeepers down by lifting a quarantine that
gave
the bees a break from other varieties.

Africanized bees and hive beetles, both of which have proven to be
problematic
elsewhere, are a particular concern, Macdonald said.

Since bees can fly just two or three kilometres at a stretch, they would
have to
make the trip to or from the Lower Mainland by boat or aircraft.

"We're trying to push for maintaining of the quality and status of bees on
the Island
and the federal and provincial agriculture departments are hell bent on
taking it
away," he said.

But a spokeswoman for the provincial Agriculture Ministry said most Island
beekeepers support the upcoming changes to the Bee Act.

"There has been a lot of consultation in order to make the changes," said
Barb
Wright.

"Most of the commercial beekeepers support the change because it means they
can
move their hives to the Lower Mainland and back," Wright said.

The profile of bees living on the Island is similar to those on the Lower
Mainland so
there's no immediate threat to bees in the Victoria area, she said.

If a threat looms like the parasitic mites, restrictions on the movement of
hives can
be quickly reinstated, Wright said.

"But if there's no immediate threat that requires us to restrict bee
movement, we
end up facing some trade restrictions that do not benefit anybody."

She said the B.C. Honey Producers' Association supports the changes.

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