Honey production under threat as mite attacks bees

IRISH honey production is under threat from Varroa mite disease, which has vastly depleted bee populations over the past 10 years, beekeepers were warned yesterday.

The Federation of Irish Beekeepers’ Associations, which represents 46 member groups with almost 1,600 members, held a seminar in Dunmanway, Co Cork, yesterday to discuss bee health and how to increase stocks.

Minister of State Trevor Sargent said that in the last year alone up to half the hives in west Cork were lost to the disease