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Thread ID: 70078	2006-06-21 10:38:00	south island gets varroa (yeah more bee posts)	tweak'e (69)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
464987	2006-06-21 10:38:00	i see on the news varroa has crossed over to the south island. criky they can't keep vorroa out and they want to import EFB ! sorry southern bee keepers but don't exspect the gov to help and frankly trying to eradicate it would be difficult if not impossible. mind you winter is the best time to try. once it gets into the wild bee population its all over. orchards etc are going to be in for a rude shock. with honey imports looking likly and varroa at the same time .....your in for massive increase in pollination bills :(	tweak'e (69)
464988	2006-06-21 21:04:00	Whats EFB? Poor bees, having just moved down here it was nice to see bees everywhere again. I guess its up to those hard working bumble bees again now....	pctek (84)
464989	2006-06-21 22:13:00	Does the mite not affect humble bumbles? I note from the Press this am that they have not yet confirmed whether it is the same varroa as the offshore outbreak . That would be really scary if this is a fresh foreign import . And the authorities are investigating whether queens have been taken to other mainland places from the currently known infestation area . If that is the case, then eradication would be all over rover . SWMBO and I have squirreled away a little stockpile of our favourite manuka honey in the event of a drought . . . Poor apiarists; not to mention orchardists and pastoral farmers . According to Jim Anderton on Te News last night, we were the second last varroa-free country in the world . He then mentioned Australia as being the last one (he evidently overlooked Pitcairn Is, which may be tiny but it has a small but flourishing honey industry) . What I didn't like about the Hon Jim was his air of resignation - hardly the energy you would wish to see in the person with his hands on the purse strings . He gave a very good "lie back and think of England" impression, no doubt improving the morale of everyone in the agrarian sector . . . Sigh . I hope he isn't responsible for gumberment responses to any other bio-nasties like the sea squirt and didymo .	John H (8)
464990	2006-06-21 22:53:00	EFB European Foul Brood, basicly turns the growing bees into mush before they hatch. afaik 3/4 of aussie offically has it, so they want to import honey from the 1/4 they recon dosn't have it...........YEAH RIGHT ! the mite dosn't affect bumble bees. there has been a large increase in bummble bee numbers since varroa. however even if a bumble be does 10x the work of a honey bee (as some people suggest) it can't make up for the shear humungous numbers of bees. the reason honey bees do so well in pollention....sheer numbers of bees. the bummble bee simply cannot be in 2 places at once.	tweak'e (69)
464991	2006-06-22 01:52:00	the mite dosn't affect bumble bees. there has been a large increase in bummble bee numbers since varroa. however even if a bumble be does 10x the work of a honey bee (as some people suggest) it can't make up for the shear humungous numbers of bees. the reason honey bees do so well in pollention....sheer numbers of bees. the bummble bee simply cannot be in 2 places at once. Yep, they're too big. But they are increasing cause there is less competition from honey bees now. They are pretty good, they took care of our entire garden in Auckland, vege patches, fruit trees and flowers. They were mating too so more of them appearing.	pctek (84)
464992	2006-06-22 03:06:00	Yep, they're too big. ???? don't forget there is two different types/sizes of bubble bee. they have increased in populaton but i would think the population should be maxed out by now, we see a lot of starving ones.	tweak'e (69)
464993	2006-06-22 03:17:00	We had a lot of bumbling bees early in the season, but they seemed to either die off or go to ground earlier than I expected . We planted a flowering bush this year as food for them because it is a flower they go mad over, but they had all gone before it bloomed . Yet last year when we visited a friend in Waikouaiti the parent bush to ours was absolutely smothered in them . :confused: Have we got enough bumble bees to pollinate the clover, or did that strategy not work? I gather one species has a long tongue and they can do it, but the other species can't . Anyone know whether they could take over some crops like clover if the worst came to the worst?	John H (8)
464994	2006-06-22 03:33:00	not a chance of them beeing enough to cover clover crops. orchards have been buying bumble bee hives (commanly used in glass houses) but again the problem is sheer numbers. (10's of thousands of bees compared to hundreds of bumble bees) the worse thing for orchards etc is simply cost, price almost doubled because of varoa and will double with honey imports and god forbid WHEN we get EFB.......... the mite is manageable, for now. overseas they are having problems with resistant mites and are lossing large numbers of hives.	tweak'e (69)
464995	2006-06-22 03:41:00	Oh dear, what a tale of woe - you are a right little cheer germ today t'e. Glad my grandma (who was an apiarist in the 1950's) isn't around to see it. There was an apiarist in the paper this week who has got full organic certification after a huge amount of work, and he gets a price hike from selling organic honey in Amerika. If varroa gets to him, it will be curtains for his business because there is no acceptable organic solution. BTW, what does a bumble bee hive look like? And my understanding is that all but the queens die off over winter - presumably there is a considerable time lag in the spring whilst the workforce is rebuilt, thus being another disadvantage when compared with honey bees. Is that correct, or am I peddling a myth?	John H (8)
464996	2006-06-22 03:47:00	Oh well, we can use all the graduates from tertiary institutions with their brandnew qualifications for the "knowledge economy" in a service industry instead . Issue each one with a little brush, and send them out in squads to all the orchards . (If they managed to bring back the nectar to a collection system, we could make the honey as well) . Should be cheaper than bumble bees .	Graham L (2)
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