Key Points
- Of all insects, honeybees are the most effective pollinators of commercial crops due to their population per colony being far larger than that of any other pollinator species.
- The varroa bee mite is reducing the number of bees in managed hives as well as those in feral or wild colonies. This therefore not only impacts on the beekeeping industry, but is also potentially devastating for pollination of some crops and legumes.
- Due to the increasing demand from the arable and horticultural industry sectors, by 2015 it is expected that there may be a shortage of hives for pollination.
- Other pollinating insects; solitary native bees, bumble bees and flies are not susceptible to varroa.
- The number of South Island beekeepers has decreased by more than a third in the last decade and by more than a half in the North Island.
- Without honey bees, the majority of the New Zealand cropping industry would no longer be economically viable. In fact the annual economic impact has the potential to lie somewhere in the region of $millions to the arable industry alone.