Important information regarding bees from Italy and the SHB
I am copy-pasting below a letter sent by Margaret Wilson, the President of the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) to all Area and Branch Secretaries. I do this with the permission of the Secretary to the Wimbledon Beekeepers Association."You may be aware that there is an intention to circumvent the restrictions on the movement of bees from the EU and in particular Italy, by moving the bees via Northern Ireland into the UK.Some of the Italian bees are known to be infested with the Small Hive Beetle (SHB). If this is imported into the United Kingdom the risk to our bee population would be catastrophic and it would be almost impossible to eradicate it from our shores.Within two years of its discovery in America, at least 20,000 colonies were destroyed, costing millions of dollars to the economy. A similar impact on beekeeping in this country would be devastating.It would appear that the intention is to import the bees into Northern Ireland, hive the bees there and allow them to fly freely, then package them to come into the UK mainland. The risk of spread due to this action would be horrendous both in Northern Ireland and here on the mainland.There is a petition from the BBKA, arranged by Anne Rowberry our Chair, currently on the internet to ask for support requesting the Government to prevent this import. Can I ask that you do support this petition but also raise awareness, by whatever means you can, to help persuade the Government to prevent the import of bees from Italy, through the Northern Ireland route. Here is the link: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/577603In the course of events for the BBKA News, we take advertisements from organisations who pay for the privilege, which helps with the cost of operating it and ultimately keeps the costs down for our members.We are very careful who we receive adverts from, and one such advertiser was an existing customer, so their advert was accepted. We have subsequently discovered that it was the same organisation trying to import bees from Southern Italy where the SHB is prevalent. We were unable to pull the advert for the April edition of the BBKA News as it was already at the printers, but all other adverts have now been refused.Keep safeMargaret Wilson, President"If you are so inclined, it would be very helpful if you could kindly sign the petition. Thank you.
Ivonne Holliday ● 1823d0 Comments