SHB temp ban on imported bees from Italy

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Has Defra actually advised beekeepers in the UK what to do if SHB is discovered, all I have seen is a leaflet on how to spot and identify it and to inform Defra / SHB.

???


Think I will get my order in for a 1000 liters of Jeyes fluid now !


Yeghes da
 
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B+. said:
:iagree:The situation in southern Italy is being used as a pretext for more widespread action that is not warranted at the present time
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May also need to include Switzerland now.
 
Hivemaker. said:
May also need to include Switzerland now.
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Are the dates right? The Swiss story suggests the female arrived in the hive around the 19th March quoting the local veterinary authorities. That sounds a lot like a confirmed case and it's naive to think it was the only beetle. In the meantime, the Italians have notified nothing after 23 Dec 2014 on a document dated 16 March (below), which might suggest they stopped looking. If they're flying in Switzerland in March, they will be flying further south in Italy. A policy change that has not been announced?

http://www.izsvenezie.it/documenti/...-epidemiologica/tabella-1-casi-confermati.pdf
 
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A good idea raised on the bbka forum of a possible alternative for treating and recovering from a SHB infestation.

If SHB hit a hive/apiary, freezing may be as effective as burning on the hive and frames - and you'd get your hive back and be able to get back up and running with combs intact.

All you'd need is access to freezer space big enough. For a home beek a chest freezer, for a commercial sized apiary a refrigerated van or lorry could travel to near the apiary.
 
wessexmario said:
for a commercial sized apiary a refrigerated van or lorry could travel to near the apiary.
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They would be needing a fleet of four wheel drive lorries for some, and who would be paying for this, defra/fera/maff/nbu/apis or whatever they currently call themselves.
 
Could just pop into Iceland.... or utilise a few CO2 fire extinguishers ?

Yeghes da
 
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wessexmario said:
A good idea raised on the bbka forum ..... freezing may be as effective as burning on the hive and frames/
I'm not sure that would work. The tests done by DEFRA show that SHB could reproduce after overwintering in this country (so can withstand freezing). The most promising line of research at the moment seems to be readily available nematodes.
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B+. said:
wessexmario said:
The most promising line of research at the moment seems to be readily available nematodes.
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I was at a meeting lastnight with a talk about the SHB where nematodes were mooted as the most effective method of combating the beetle when it arrives.

I got thinking about it's lifecycle and where it has a vulnerability that we can exploit. The beetle likes dark so it can hide but the larvae seek out light so that they can exit the hive and burrow underground.

So what is the weakness? It's the transition between hive and soil that we can exploit. We use a larger mesh in our floors that the larvae can get through and a large clear plastic funnel like an inverted pyramid under the hive. The larvae are attracted to the light, they drop into the funnel where they are trapped and killed in a receptacle at the bottom of the funnel.

They never make it to the ground so the reproductive cycle is broken.



But in reality, once they are in it's game over.
Click to expand...
 
B+. said:
:iagree:The situation in southern Italy is being used as a pretext for more widespread action that is not warranted at the present time
Click to expand...

?????!!!!!!!

Unbelievable, it's almost as if some people wish we had it already.
 
Nematodes, who do they think they're kidding? As a control method in a lab I can imagine them being effective, or possibly in polly tunnels, but people promoting nematodes for controlling hive beatles in the wider countryside must be selling nematodes imo, or looking to get more research grant funding. Have a think and tell me it's not utterly laughable.
Or maybe pushing another agenda, "we don't need to ban imports, we can deal with shb with magic nematodes". ffs
 
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mbc said:
we can deal with shb with magic nematodes". ffs
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well, as a matter of fact I am developing a magic stone loosely based on the MBC varroa stone but slightly larger with a bluish veiny tinge. Whether it will work only time will tell - but they do look impressive.
SWMBO was only telling her old schoolfriend Joanne last night that my stones are a joy to behold
 
jenkinsbrynmair said:
well, as a matter of fact I am developing a magic stone loosely based on the MBC varroa stone but slightly larger with a bluish veiny tinge. Whether it will work only time will tell - but they do look impressive.
SWMBO was only telling her old schoolfriend Joanne last night that my stones are a joy to behold
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lol trying not to picture your cerrig :puke:

Unfortunately it is the top professionals in the country working on shb that are wasting time and taxpayers money farting around with nematodes for impractical applications.
 
mbc said:
Unfortunately it is the top professionals in the country working on shb that are wasting time and taxpayers money farting around with nematodes for impractical applications.
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when all they have to do is see my cheap sustainable suggestion above and everyone can stop the beetle larvae before it enters the ground.

Alternatively, we just start hive keeping on solid concrete, beehives in carparks, on flat roofs but not on soil.
 
2 April 2015
Further update: Small Hive Beetle
Small Hive Beetle (SHB) and Importation of Honey bees and hive products Further to the recent posting on the BBKA website the subject was discussed at the meeting of the Bee Health Advisory Forum held on 30 March 2015.
It is clear that the Government is not minded to contemplate a ban on the importation of honey bees reiterating its previous position that the current exportation restrictions in place in Italy and the importation and inspection controls in place for the UK are appropriate.
The BBKA, mandated by the membership at its 2015 Annual Delegate Meeting to demand a ban on imports from the affected area, remains concerned about the fact that any importation of honeybees increases the possibility of the introduction of Small Hive Beetle into the country. The best way to ensure that the pest is not imported into the country on honey bees is to introduce a temporary restriction on the importation of honey bees into the UK and that this remains in place until the
outbreak in Italy is under control and the pest has been eradicated. It is inappropriate to focus activity on containing this new pest on arrival in the UK, as appears to be the preferred approach.
More stringent measures are needed to prevent or at the very least delay the arrival of SHB, which will give beekeepers and the authorities more time to prepare for any outbreak.
The BBKA will continue to press the authorities to impose a ban
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.....
 
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