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Archive -Seychelles

Bee keepers up their guard against potential threat to honey bees |21 June 2018

 

 

 

 

Around 30 bee keepers and other stakeholders from Mahé last week attended a one-day training workshop on varroa mites, an external parasite that attacks honey bees and thus can wipe out a whole colony.

The workshop, held at the Roche Caiman community centre, was also aimed at raising awareness of the participants on the destruction that varroa mites can cause to the environment and on the dangers of importing bees and bee hives which could contain the larvae.

The training was facilitated by two French experts -- Joseph Francomme and Francois Payet -- from Reunion who imparted knowledge and experiences on varroa detection, the consequences, how to manage a varroa surveillance network and possible eradication in case of incursion, measures that have been taken in Reunion and in other countries to combat the parasite.

The training was organised by the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture in collaboration with the National Bio-security Agency (NBA). Apart from Mahé, the two experts will also visit bee keepers on Praslin and La Digue where they will assess the current local situation with regard to varroa mites and make recommendations on follow up actions.

There is concern in Seychelles on the spreading of the varroa virus in the region especially in neighbouring Mauritius, Madagascar and recently in Reunion last year. The parasite attacks the bees, bringing down the colony size hence reducing their ability to pollinate flowers which result in low or no honey production and a drop in fruit and vegetables.

Seychelles and The Comoros are the only two Indian Ocean islands where the pest is not present. Varroa mite was first spotted in Asia in the 1970s before spreading to Europe in 1982 and to other countries later.

In opening the workshop, the principal secretary for agriculture, Antoine-Marie Moustache said as honey bees play a vital role in preserving the biodiversity through their pollination process, it was vitally important to prevent the propagation of varroa mites in countries and regions who have not been affected. He also stressed on the need to develop a programme to train bee keepers on bee health.

Mr Payet said that if varroa mites land in Seychelles it will be catastrophic as the epidemic can spread quickly owing to the small size of the country. Apart from no honey, there will also be no flower pollination for agricultural foods.

He however noted that the small size of the country could be a blessing as it will also be easier to protect against varroa as the bees won’t have to travel far due to ocean barriers and through total ban on the importation of bees and bee hives, quarantine measures and some chemical products available on the market.

He noted that once varroa mites are introduced in Seychelles, it will be difficult to eradicate them completely as it will be difficult to contain and treat the wild bees and we have to live with it for the rest of our lives.

Keven Nancy from NBA said that apart from the importation of bees and bee hives if ever varroa mites land in Seychelles, the agency will introduce its quarantine emergency programme which allows them to cordon areas affected for treatment and will prevent the movement of bees and plants with the infected larva to other areas like in the case of the tuta absoluta virus (tomato leaf minor) that affected the Anse Royale agricultural region not so long ago.

A participant said that the workshop has come at an opportune time as it has given them the opportunity to learn about the different techniques being used in Reunion to control varroa.

“In fact the workshop is getting us to be on our guard and to be well prepared in case the parasite lands in Seychelles,” he said.

 

 

 

 

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