Beekeepers Pleased With Extra Funding

23 August 2006

Beekeepers Pleased With Extra Funding

South Island beekeepers are pleased the government has listened to the bee industry and is prepared to work with beekeepers to aggressively contain varroa, said Federated Farmers bee industry group chairman Lin McKenzie.

Mr McKenzie's comment follows the government's announcement today to allocate an additional $1.25 million to the management of varroa in the South Island.

The additional funding makes possible a beekeeper led initiative aimed at aggressive containment of the pest.

"We will be organising beekeepers from throughout the South Island to give a hand to eliminate the feral hives in the Nelson region, and to deal with managed hives in the infected area.

"We will also be helping replace the managed hives with uninfected hives from other parts of the South Island.

"The chances of elimination are pretty good. Beekeepers will be pleased that the government has listened to our plea and is willing to work with us to give eradication a go.

"Even if this doesn't work, this elimination attempt will put back varroa's spread throughout the South Island four or five years - a result that will be well worth the additional funding," said Mr McKenzie.

ENDS

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