New controls to prevent the spread of imported bumble bees into the wild from Irish greenhouses and orchards are being put in place. There are currently no controls on the importation of bumble bee colonies from abroad to pollinate greenhouse and orchard crops here.
Most of the imported bumble bees are bred in the Netherlands and are imported here via Britain but recently, environmentalists have expressed concern about the possible escape of these imported bees and their impact on Ireland's biodiversity.
Earlier this week at an open day in the Teagasc research centre in Kildalton, Co Kilkenny, breeders of the bees said they would move to prevent the escape of the bumble bee queens from hives.
Harry O'Brien, a senior softfruit specialist with Teagasc, said in future all hives being imported here will be fitted with excluders which will prevent the escape of the queen bee from the imported hives. "This will stop the queen setting up a new hive in the wild and prevent the spread of these bees here and the people who supply the hives said they will do this," he said.
"When the hives arrive there is a queen bee and about 50 others and this gradually builds up over the life of the hive," he said. "We are recommending that the hive be destroyed with the queen before the end of the cycle when the hive produces drone bees. This would prevent these drones going into the wild and cross-breeding with native bumble bees which could happen."
Mr O'Brien said studies were being carried out to ascertain just how many hives are imported each year. "Farmers who use greenhouses need them to pollinate crops and without them they would be in grave difficulty.
"Orchard owners bring in the hives as well and there has been a recommendation to have one hive to each hectare of orchard. We are attempting to study just how important these bees are to the pollination of the apple crop."
Mr O'Brien added that the imported hives cost growers between €130 to €140 each and this was a considerable cost on fruit farmers.
