For those who are interested below is a copy of the Irish times article:
 
 
 
 
              Nine bean rows will I have there, and a hive for the honey bee,
              was William Butler Yeats's declared ambition for the Lake Isle
              of Innisfree. And live alone in the bee-loud glade. But the
              bee-loud glades will be silent in the poet's native county
              following a decision by the Department of Agriculture to
              embark on the most ambitious slaughter policy since the
              foundation of the State, the destruction of six million bees in
              south Co Sligo.
 
              The Department decided on this drastic plan of action last night
              following a meeting with the Federation of Irish Beekeepers to
              discuss the control of the disease, varroasis, which has been
              found in Sligo for the first time in Irish bee hives. The disease,
              caused by a parasitic mite, varroa jacobsoni, poses no risk to
              human health but destroys honey bees by feeding on their
              blood.
 
              The Department has a traditional policy of slaughter to control
              diseases in animals and birds and it has slaughtered millions of
              cattle to eradicate bovine TB and thousands to control BSE. A
              Department spokesman said yesterday that, following a
              meeting with the federation, a decision had been taken to
              destroy the infected bees.
 
              He said he understood nearly a dozen beekeepers were
              involved, and an estimated 100 hives would be wiped out in
              the operation. The spokesman could not specify how south
              Sligo would be turned into a bee-silent glade, but a prominent
              beekeeper said it was likely the hives would be treated with
              chemicals or burned.
 
              "It is not an easy job to do," said Mr John Donoghue, the
              incoming president of the federation. "You have to wait at this
              time of year until around 11 p.m. when all the bees come home
              and then block the exit to the hive and either kill them with
              chemicals or burn the hives."
 
              He said the news would "send shivers up the spine of every
              beekeeper in Ireland", but he accepted that this might have to
              happen because of the destruction caused by the disease.
 
              "The killing of the bees may not prevent the spread of the
              disease because wild bees carry the mite as well, and there is
              no way of getting rid of every wild bee in Sligo.
 
              "The fact that the Department has decided to destroy the hives
              may mean that the problem is localised, and that is good news."
 
 
Philip