Economic Opportunities
- Whether there has been any impact on the Western Cape bee population as a result of the American Foul Brood; if so, (a) how and (b) what measures have been put in place to prevent the further spread of this disease;
- Whether any information has been made available to bee keepers in this regards; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
(1)
- American Foulbrood (AFB) is impacting the Western Cape’s bee industry and we continue to engage with the relevant authority, the National Department of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries (DAFF), to find a solution.
There are incidents of the disease at beekeeping operations across the province.
Infected colonies either die or are killed by the beekeepers to prevent them contaminating other operations.
Within an AFB-infected beekeeping operation, the provincial average level of infection is estimated to be 5-10%.
- The National Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries have passed legislation declaring AFB a notifiable disease.
This legislation effectively prohibits the movement of any infected colonies.
There are industry concerns that there is not sufficient capacity to enforce these regulations.
In a bid to educate beekeepers about AFB, a province-wide roadshow was conducted by the Western Cape Beekeepers Association in partnership with the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) and DAFF.
2) As stated above a province-wide roadshow was conducted by the relevant
stakeholders.
There is, however, a need for further awareness on how to manage AFB. This could include the distribution of educational materials such as pamphlets and manuals.
With bees playing an important role in pollination and crop production, this situation could threaten food security.
State Veterinarians have been supplied with the following documents to distribute to Bee Keepers:
- Beekeeper Registration Form: The information on this form is collected under the authority of the Agricultural Pests Act, 1983 (Act No. 36 of 1983) and Control Measures R858 of 15 November 2013 relating to Honeybees.
- A Guide for Beekeepers : How to Manage AFB. This guide was compiled by the Western Cape Bee Industry Association in February 2015 with the input from the Bee Section, Plant Protection Research Institute, ARC, Stellenbosch.
