ALMOST 30 beekeepers from the Okehampton area attended a vital meeting at South Zeal last weekend, aimed at combating a potentially fatal bug which is threatening bee colonies in the area.

Special guest at the meeting was Richard Ball, the regional bee inspector responsible for Devon and Dorsent, and Adam Vevers, who monitors a large area of Devon.

They told the worried beekeepers that pyrethroid, used until now to control the varroa mite, was fast becoming ineffective as the mites built up a resistance to treatment.

They said it was vital that beekeepers learn how to detect resistant mites, before their bee colonies succumbed and were wiped out.

During a four-hour testing and re-testing period on Saturday, beekeepers Roy Radford and David May waited to find out if their hives, which are home to bee colonies from Crockernwell, Okehampton and Sourton, were in danger.

The expert?s verdict was that while Roy and David?s apiary might survive another year using the traditional treatment to combat varroa, its safety could not be guaranteed.

Roy said the meeting was a real wake-up call for beekeepers in the area.

?People came and they now understand that this is a serious situation ? they went away very worried indeed,? said Roy, who now intends to adopt the more time-consuming methods of bee-husbandry which the experts recommend as the best way to fight the deadly varroa mite.

?We?ve been keeping the bees for 18 years now, so it?s a well established apiary.

?We?ve been relying on chemicals, but now the mites are resistant. Whilst my apiary could last another year under the old system, we?re not going to risk it,? he said.

By removing particular parts of the hive at particular times, where and when the mites are breeding, infection can be prevented by 90%.

Roy said most hives are now infected by varroa, which came into this country more than ten years ago.

He now has test kits that other beekeepers can borrow to determine the situation in their own apiaries. For more information, call Roy Radford on 01837 840547.

The Okehampton branch of the Devon Beekeepers? Association meets during the winter months in South Zeal. For more information, call branch chairman Bob Hurdle on 01647 231511.