Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Organic honey producer takes long-term view on varroa

Updated at 12:58 pm on 8 May 2009

The outlook is a little brighter for organic honey producers trying to control the varroa honey bee mite.

Attempts to use non-chemical treatments for killing the bee parasite have been largely ineffective.

Nearly all organic bee-keepers in areas infested with varroa have had to turn to synthetic chemical treatments to keep their bees alive, and that's meant losing their organic registration.

There's now only one certified organic bee keeper in the North Island, on the Coromandel Peninsula, and fewer than 20 in the South.

Plant & Food bee scientist, Mark Goodwin, says using the available non-chemical alternatives to attack varroa are costly and time consuming.

But he says a new fungal -based biological control has been developed that will provide another control option for varroa. That's expected to be available in the next year or so.

And on-going research into using exisiting organic varroa treatments is looking more promising. They incloude fumiogating hioves wioth a food-grade mineral oil.

Waikato bee-keeper Jane Lorimer, who's been doing trials with Plant & Food says better results are being obtained from trying a different combination of treatments.

New Zealand's largest certified honey producer, the Waikato Honey Company near Kurow in North Otago, is still free of varroa.

It produces about half of New Zealand's organic honey supply. Most is exported and the largest markets are Germany,Denmark and Japan. It also exports bees' wax to Germany for natural cosmetics.

Co-director Kate White says they're resigned to it turning up eventually, but they see varroa as a short term set-back and expect to continue with organic production in the longer term.

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