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Cape Town - A bee disease, American Foulbrood disease (AFB), is threatening South African bee colonies.
Bees play an important role in the pollination of many food crops and agricultural production can be seriously impacted if bee broods are wiped out by the disease.
There is unfortunately no legislation to immediately counter the impending crisis.
The disease has been identified in bee colonies in the Western Cape.
While it is not known how widespread AFB is currently, fears are that the disease could contaminate all of the country's bee colonies.
Dr Mike Allsopp of the plant protection research institute of the Department of Agriculture says bees are administered within plant legislation, and this legislation does not provide for placing infected bee hives into quarantine.
On Wednesday a statement from the department said the disease has been known to wipe out large numbers of bee colonies in other parts of the globe.
This is the first time the disease has been reported in Africa south of the Sahara.
How the disease gained a foothold in Africa has not yet been determined, but it is suspected that honey or honey products were imported without irradiating them to destroy any traces of the disease.
At this stage the department is asking beekeepers to keep their broods separate and not move them from one hive to another, to sterilise their equipment and ensure that beeswax from the Western Cape does not reach other parts of the country.
Allsopp says the disease has a long dormant period and infected hives can show symptoms of infection two years after contamination. AFB starts wreaking havoc only after three years.
He suspects that the hives currently showing symptoms were contaminated three and a half years ago, and believes the problem is more serious than generally thought.
- Sake24.com
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