This is actually an issue with my work in Australia, where I work as a Media Officer for a Member of the Australian House of Representatives. A committee that she is a member of is currently investigating the issue (more info online at
http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committe...bee/index.htm)
This is an extract from media release I distributed a couple of weeks ago:
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“The honey bee industry faces a number of challenges in the future, including overseas competition, the risk of imported diseases, land planning regulations, and urban sprawl,” xxx said.
“Currently, Australia is the only bee keeping nation in the world without the Varroa Mite. The Varroa Mite, a parasitic mite that attacks honey bees, is expected to enter Australia in the future, and is likely to reduce the commercial and wilde bee populations.”
“Apiarists need to start work now to reduce the likely future impact of the mite to some degree, but no one can protect the wild bee population. This will have a wide ranging effect on other industries such as fruit growers that depend on bee pollination.”
“To help combat this future threat throughout the agricultural economy, Governments need to take action now to encourage the growth of commercial bee populations to compensate for the forecast reduction in wild bee populations. This means rethinking restrictive land use regulations, and calls into question the State Government’s ‘lock up and leave it’ mentality to national parks,” xxx said.
“It is increasingly clear that the Melbourne-focused State Government’s plot to lock up large tracts of land is having a variety of previously unforseen consequences, and it is important that the Bracks Government reverses its current position.”
“A number of bee sites destroyed in the 2003 bushfires have not been replaced, at a time when we need increased bee sites just to maintain the current levels of cross pollination throughout the agricultural sector,” xxxx said.
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