Bay of Plenty beekeeper, owner of Arataki Honey, Russell Berry, says the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is in an untenable position.

Russell Berry, Sue Kedgley and Ian McLean at the bee meeting last week.

'You cannot unilaterally promote free trade and protect the environment at the same time,” says Russell.

'MAF is responsible for biosecurity, but is also hell bent on the free trade agenda – for example, diseases can be transferred in bee products such as honey and pollen, yet MAF is determined to allow imports of Australian honey to New Zealand.”

The comments were made at a forum in Tauranga called by the Green Party last week.

The forum included presentations from Green MP Sue Kedgley and Dr Ian McLean, Green candidate for Tauranga.

'Bees are fundamental to our economy, our ecology, and our food security,” says Sue.

'While their value to New Zealand horticulture must be counted in the billions of dollars, their ecological role is what really matters.”

At the meeting Ian explained the complex structure of a hive, which operates as a single entity. 'The hive is a many-headed beast,” he said, 'and its social complexity both explains the success of bees, and is the cause of their downfall.”

Bees are subjected to a cocktail of threats, including diseases such as the recently arrived Varroa mite, agricultural chemicals, and political mismanagement.

Ian says New Zealand beekeepers have lost up to 50 per cent of hives within 24 hours when placed close to maize crops and the latest threat appears to be new agrichemical products based on neonicotinoids, which are sprayed to control insect pests, and coated onto seeds. Agrichemicals of this type are now banned in parts of Europe due to catastrophic loss of bees, but are allowed in New Zealand.

'The Department of Conservation was created 30 years ago in response to conflicts of interest.

'Similarly, the biosecurity role of MAF should be separated from its other roles supporting agriculture and the economy.”