The expansion in rape oilseed crops as a bio fuel here and across the globe because of a rise in fossil fuel prices will greatly assist beekeepers, the Apimondia Ireland bee conference in Dublin heard yesterday.
Speakers attending the scientific conference in the RDS said the rape crop was the most successful for bees to exploit. A German contribution suggested that yields from bees working oilseed rape fields could rise by as much as 25 per cent overall.
Many beekeepers were worried about the introduction of GM rape crops into Europe which could affect beekeepers.
Mr Philip McCabe, president of Apimondia Ireland 2005, said beekeepers here were delighted with increased rape planting.
"The rising price of oil and the fact that oilseed rape can be grown on setaside ground has meant there has been a virtual explosion in the amount of acreage grown here and that is something other delegates from other countries are saying too," he said.
Romanian delegate Daniela Nica told the conference that a high mortality of bee colonies from all apiaries had been observed in the eastern part of the country two years ago. The bees, she said, presented "unco-ordinated movements, ventral exposition, own axe rotation, flying incapacity, wings extension, posterior feet paralyses and intermittent needle and oral system expulsion".Scientists discovered the bees had died from acute intoxication.
They had been working on rape fields treated with an odourless spray called called Deltamethrin.