Double summer hit on hives
South Canterbury beekeepers have faced a challenging summer with drought and the varroa mite impacting hives.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) released its Bee Colony Loss Survey report for 2017 on March 16, which sampled 30 per cent of New Zealand beekeepers to determine the rate of hive loss and the main reasons for it.
MPI aquatic and environment health manager Dr Michael Taylor said a severe drought for the middle of the South Island last year was the leading contributor to the jump in colony loss.
The drought’s main impact was causing nectar and pollen sources to deplete, leading to bees dying from starvation, Taylor said.
For the middle of the South Island, encompassing Canterbury and the West Coast, the loss was 11.4 per cent compared to 7.2 per cent in 2016.
Pleasant Point Apiaries beekeeper Paul Bartrum said, however, the varroa mite - a parasite that attaches to bees and sucks fat from them - has been the main killer of his South Canterbury hives because the mites are gaining a resistance to treatments.
‘‘It’s certainly the biggest challenge facing beekeeping.’’
The best solution would be to breed a bee stock that is immune to the mites, an aim Bartrum is working towards by lending funding to the breeding programme Betta Bees.
Bartrum said the drought largely missed South Canterbury, but a particularly dry December meant less honey was produced from his crop.
Taylor said the ministry would now work closely with regional beekeepers to discuss solutions to problems created by drought.
‘‘It’s important we understand the linkages between climate and colony losses,’’ he said.
Taylor said other major factors in hive loss were attacks from wasps and the death, disappearance, or inability to lay eggs of the queen bee.
‘‘Queen problems seem to be the highest cause of losses,’’ he said.
‘‘There must be something that’s right up there and something we can learn from,’’ Taylor said.
The fact the rate was so different between two side-by-side areas was evidence the drought had a major effect on the middle of the South Island, he said.
The rate for NZ overall was 9.8 per cent, which Taylor said was low compared to international results of ‘‘well over 10 per cent’’.
Taylor said 305 beekeepers from the middle of the South Island participated in the study.