Since New Zealand's programmes relating to American foulbrood
disease control, exotic bee disease surveillance and exotic disease and
pest response preparedness have been mentioned recently on BEE-L, I
thought I'd take this opportunity to explain the programmes to readers:
1) Honey bee health status - Honey bee diseases present in New
Zealand (NZ) producing identifiable symptoms are AFB, nosema,
chalkbrood, sacbrood, chronic bee paralysis, and black queen cell. Most
of the other known bee viruses have been found in NZ, including acute
bee paralysis virus, cloudy wing virus, bee virus X, bee virus Y,
filamentous virus and Kashmir bee virus. These viruses have only been
detected by injecting dead bee extracts into healthy pupae, and exist in
honey bees in NZ as inapparent infections. Amoeba disease is present
in NZ, although serious effects of amoeba infestation are not known.
Several species of harmless external mites have been found. These are
Melittiphis alvearius, Acarapis externus, A. dorsalis and
Neocypholaelaps zealandicus.
2) American foulbrood control programme - Regulations regarding AFB
control have been in place in NZ since the enactment of the first of a
series of Apiaries Acts in 1905. As in many other western beekeeping
countries, AFB inspection and education programmes were for many
years funded by central government.
In 1991, however, the extensive government fiscal reforms transforming
New Zealand society were also applied to beekeeping services.
Because AFB was an endemic disease, central government identified
beekeepers as the principal beneficiaries of AFB control programmes.
They were therefore asked to pay directly for these programmes. The
National Beekeepers' Association (NBA) decided that a continuing AFB
control programme was important, and entered into the first of a
continuing series of annual contracts with the Ministry of Agriculture to
provide AFB control services. Funding for the contract comes from a
NBA levy on beehive holdings.
The contract includes the inspection of 3.9% of NZ apiaries (on a
targeted basis) by government inspectors. The Ministry of Agriculture
also organises a further random surveillance inspection programme
which is carried out by volunteer inspectors. These volunteer
inspectors are trained beekeepers belonging to the National Beekeepers'
Association. The NBA inspections are known throughout NZ as
"diseaseathons".
In the 1994-5 production year, government personnel inspected 4% of
NZ apiaries, with NBA volunteers inspecting a further 3.5%.
As well, all beekeepers in NZ are required by law to inspect all of their
beehives for AFB at least once during the spring period each year, and
to report the findings of those inspections (and any changes to apiary
and hive holdings) to the Ministry of Agriculture. Beekeepers must also
report the presence of AFB whenever it is found. NZ therefore has a
highly accurate record of both apiary locations and AFB occurrence.
In the 1994-95 production year, the reported incidence of AFB (from all
sources, including the AFB control programme) was 0.8% of hives and
4.2% of apiaries. The NZ Apiaries Act forbids the feeding of drugs to
beehives for the control of AFB. All beehives found to be infected with
the disease are destroyed by burning, with woodenware sterilised by
treatment with hot paraffin (160oC for 10-15 minutes).
3) Exotic bee disease surveillance -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 inspect 500 apiaries
throughout the country each year as part of this programme. 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 1994-95 production year,
a total of 542 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 1994-95 production year, 77
such samples were analyzed, all but one for European foulbrood. All
results were negative.
An on-going education programme is carried out with beekeepers to
explain the threats to the NZ beekeeping industry posed by exotic bee
diseases. In 1995, a four page colour pamphlet identifying exotic
diseases was sent to every registered beekeeper in NZ.
4) Border protection - Because New Zealand is an island country, border
protection is an extremely important first line of defence against the
introduction of exotic diseases and pests. Agricultural Quarantine
officers are therefore specifically trained to have an awareness of the
NZ beekeeping industry and the likely means of introduction of exotic bee
diseases. Agricultural Quarantine officers are stationed at all New
Zealand ports and airports, and also carry out surveillance of all
incoming goods, including commercial consignments and mail.
5) Honey Bee Exotic Disease and Pest Response (EDPR) preparedness -
In the event that a honey bee exotic disease or pest is found in NZ, a
response system is in place which will identify the extent of the disease
or pest and provide factual information necessary to undertake control or
eradication measures. The system is based on similar EDPR programmes
in place in NZ for such diseases as fruit fly and foot and mouth.
A unique feature of the system is that it uses both trained government
personnel and beekeeper volunteer inspectors. The system is
maintained by yearly EDPR exercises in various parts of NZ where AFB
is substituted for the exotic bee disease. The exercises help maintain
both emergency headquarters and field team capabilities. In the 1995-96
production year, EDPR exercises were carried out in three areas of NZ,
involving 90 government personnel and 110 beekeepers.
6) Improved diagnostic capability - As part of its commitment to exotic
bee disease surveillance and EDPR, the NZ government has over the
years continued to improve its honey bee disease and pest diagnostic
methods. This commitment began with the funding of consultancy visits
in the early 1980's by Dr. Hachiro Shimanuki from the USDA, a
recognised world expert in honey bee diseases. Dr. Shimanuki
deserves much of the credit for initiating the development of NZ's current
exotic bee disease surveillance and EDPR programmes.
One of Dr. Shimanuki's recommendations was that a full bee disease
survey be conducted in NZ (even though a variety of surveys for
individual diseases had been carried out in the past). Acting on this
recommendation, the NZ government contracted Dr. Denis Anderson, a
honey bee pathologist from Australia, to perform this survey, and also to
develop a honey bee diagnostic laboratory.
More recent projects include adoption of FABIS technology for
Africanised honey bee genotype diagnosis (in conjunction with the
USDA), testing of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for
tracheal mites (in conjunction with Agriculture Canada), and
testing/adoption of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology for EFB
diagnosis (in conjunction with the University of Wales).
7) Reporting and further information - The NZ Ministry of Agriculture
makes quarterly reports on the occurrence of honey bee diseases to the
Office International Des Epizooties (OIE), the recognised world body for
animal disease reporting and control. The Ministry of Agriculture also
makes government-to-government reports on honey bee diseases upon
request. MAF Quality Management maintains integrity in all of its
programmes relating to honey bee diseases through the use of quality
systems. The quality systems, and the programmes themselves, are
subject to independent audit by the government's Regulatory Authority.
Annual reports on the AFB control contract, and the exotic bee disease
surveillance and EDPR programmes, are included in the August edition of
the New Zealand Beekeeper. Articles in overseas journals explaining
these programmes include Van Eaton, C. (1992) Recent developments in
the control of honey bee diseases in New Zealand. Canadian
Beekeeping 16(9): 196-198; and Matheson, A. (1991) Beekeeping:
leading agricultural change in New Zealand. BeeWorld 72(2): 60-73; (3):
117-130.
Cliff Van Eaton
Apicultural Advisory Officer
MAF Quality Management
Tauranga, New Zealand
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