> In a letter to the editor, published in the latest issue (August 1997) of
> the American Bee Journal, the writer, John Iannuzzi, states that he was
> informed by two New Zealand beekeepers that European foulbrood is found in
> New Zealand. Can anyone confirm this?
 
I can state with confidence that New Zealand is free of European
foulbrood.
 
I can state this on the basis of (1) my own experiences within the
industry, in a wide ranging geographic area (both islands) (2) the
formal surveillance for exotic bee disease activities undertaken (3)
the testing of bees destined for package bee exports (4) the testing
of samples of 'suspicious' samples taken by beekeepers and MAF
personnel.
 
NZ is fortunate to be free of a number of economically significant
honey bee diseases found elsewhere in the world. The NZ government
believes maintenance of such a disease status is important, and
therefore funds an exotic bee disease surveillance programme.
Government personnel inspected 491 production apiaries throughout
the country as part of this programme in 1995-96. The apiaries are
chosen for their proximity to risk areas, including ports, rubbish
dumps, and tourist areas. All hives in each apiary are inspected for
visual symptoms of European foulbrood, with any suspect larvae
analyzed (anaerobic culture) at a government bee disease diagnostic
laboratory. At least 100 drone pupae in each hive are also visually
inspected for the presence of Varroa and Tropilaelaps mites. A sample
of at least 400 adult bees is then taken from each hive and analyzed
at the government lab for the presence of Varroa mite and
Tropilaelaps mite (alcohol wash), and Acarine mite (dissection).
 
In addition to these targeted surveillance inspections, every apiary
in NZ which supplies either queen bees or package bees is also sampled
for exotic bee diseases. The samples (400+ bees) are processed by the
government bee disease diagnostic lab. In the 1995-96 production year,
a total of 509 production apiaries were sampled for exotic bee
diseases.
 
All suspicious bee disease symptoms reported by beekeepers are also
investigated by government apiculture personnel, with samples analyzed
by the bee disease diagnostic lab. In the 1995-96 production year, 48
such samples were analyzed, all but one for European foulbrood. All
results were negative.
 
  (\           Nick Wallingford
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