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Date: | Thu, 2 Jul 1998 10:38:02 BST |
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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
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