The Bees are screwed - Part Two

This morning all over the world honey bees were heard to be muttering 'For Christ's sake....' on hearing the news that another possible threat to them has been discovered.

According to a New Zealand farming web site,

Independent scientists have identified a new parasite in bees on the Coromandel peninsula, one of several regions around New Zealand that have reported the loss of thousands of colonies of honey bees since last spring and a substantial drop in honey harvests since.
Lotmaria passim, a parasite that attacks the gut of honey bees, was only discovered by a team of American researchers about six months ago.

Beekeeping sources confirm bee losses on the Coromandel Peninsula last spring amounted to thousands of colonies. Reports suggest up to 95 per cent of bees in each hive disappeared without trace, with production losses of between 40 and 65 per cent for many large commercial beekeepers in the region.

Undoubtedly the parasite will spread and and will make Manuka honey, which comes from the North Island where the Coromandel peninsula is , even more expensive and only be afforded by Arab Sheiks and Donald Trump.

Although New Zealand is remote, this didn't stop Varroa from spreading there in 2000.

Also the Small Hive Beetle [its small, it doesn't live in small hives and is particularly nasty], travelled from Africa to Sicily and was discovered in Italy earlier this year.

Doubtless controls and regulations will be introduced and strategies implemented to stop their spread.
I'm sure they will be effective.