Concern as thousands of bees mysteriously dying
Every day over the past week, Christchurch woman Hannah Ewing has collected an ice cream container full of dead bees from her three beehives.
The hobbyist beekeeper, who moved to Lyttelton from California about six years ago, said she was ‘‘devastated’’ to find what she described as ‘‘a large mat’’ of about 20,000 bees dead outside their hives on Friday last week.
‘‘Initially I was devastated, I cried a little bit but after that I was infuriated, because I know it was something someone has done.
‘‘The worst part about it is that I can’t really do anything about it.’’
Ewing’s three hives, which are near Major Hornbrook Reserve in Lyttelton, were home to about 40,000 bees and cost over $2000 to set up and maintain.
Ewing, a teacher, said the way in which the bees were lying dead outside their hive in a ‘‘doormat’’ looking formation was a telltale sign they had died because of pesticides.
‘‘When you see that as a beekeeper that’s just one of the signs of being able to recognise pesticides.
‘‘Whether or not it was intentional to me, it [shows] humans being socially irresponsible and [not] eco-friendly.’’
She said if the source of the pesticide was not found soon, the bees could bring it into the hives, which would eventually kill off Ewing’s entire bee population.
It was important people are educated in how to best eradicate pests and weeds without causing harm to bees, Ewing said.
‘‘If it’s to the point where this is happening to a lot of beehives then the effect is massive.
‘‘Every one of three bites of food that humans eat comes from the pollination service of a bee. If we don’t have bees to pollinate our plants then you will see a massive food chain collapse.’’
Apiculture New Zealand (APINZ) chief executive Karin Cos said wasps were one of the leading causes of bee deaths.
‘‘They will attack the hive, steal the honey and kill bees.’’
She said it was important anyone undertaking large scale poisoning of wasps should inform local beekeepers.
‘‘Anybody who is going to attempt to poison wasps should make sure they don’t use bait that attracts bees, they must not use any jams, honey, sugar syrups or anything like that, any bait must be meat-based.’’
Cos said bees were critical to New Zealand’s ecosystem, particularly as a source of pollination for New Zealand’s agriculture and horticulture sector.
‘‘New Zealand is fortunate to enjoy a healthy bee population.
‘‘Colony loss rates are much lower than what you would see overseas in the northern hemisphere but we can’t afford to be complacent and poisoning events are devastating for the beekeepers.’’
She asked those using pesticides to be responsible and to alert beekeepers to what they are doing before using it.