Michael Becker writes: > South Africa has recently begun to import cheap grades of honey. The quality > of the honey makes me wonder about the quality of the bee-keepers who supply > it. > > Is there data available on diseases which may be spread in honey? How are > these detected? This is indeed a very relevant question. Let me begin by saying that none of the researchers in what used to be the government bee lab (now part of the ARC) is currently a fundi on honeybee diseases, since we live in a honeybee paradise as far as diseases go. The only disease which ever reaches serious proportions is European Foulbrood, and that only rarely. It is a recurrent `minor' problem in the cooler, damper parts of the country. Since we are presently frantically swotting up on diseases for precisely the reason you give, we would also appreciate reading responses from other countries to your note. As far as I am aware, virtually all of the bacterial and fungal honeybee diseases can be transmitted in honey. The fungal spores remain viable. While honey disables bacteria and will eventually kill them, under favourable conditions and dilution of the honey they can be reactivated. For this reason, all imported honey must be irradiated upon arrival in the country. This condition was set by the Department of Agriculture (Directorate Plant and Quality Control) and is enforced by them. The evidence suggests that irradiated honey is safe, from the disease-transmission point of view. What irradiation might or might not do to honey's qualities is another Pandora's box entirely. The presence of spores or bacteria in honey is detectable by standard microbiological assaying methods. There is quite a bit of literature on bee diseases, some of which you may find in our Stellenbosch office's library. Please contact me directly in this regard. We are especially concerned about the possiblity of importing American Foulbrood in imported honeys. Despite the compulsory irradiation, there is always the risk from illegal imports (large or small -- this includes bottles of honey brought into the country as presents etc, although the risk here is small) or of legal imports leaking or bursting before irradiation. The beekeeping industry has appealed to the state to try to limit imports by imposing import duties etc., but because of GATT this not likely to be possible to any effective extent. The solution for our industry probably lies with educating our consumers about the advantages of buying local honey, and trying to build market resistance to foreign honey through extensive marketing of our own honey. Paul Magnuson [log in to unmask] Honeybee Research Unit Plant Protection Res. Inst. Agricultural Research Council. Private Bag X134 Tel. (012) 319 7113, Fax (012) 323 5275 Pretoria 0001 South Africa