From IOM Today, 31 May 2015
Andrew Lawson, Dominik Brystrick, David Hamilton and Jerry Norton
Ramsey and District Beekeepers’ Association chairman Jerry Norton provided the bees to be taken to the island of Tresco.
‘It was a pleasure to have been contacted and to help other island beekeeping communitites to get disease-free bees, especially as the island of Tresco has only one colony of bees,’ he said.
Gardeners and keen bee keepers Andrew Lawson and David Hamilton made the two ferry crossings as well as a lengthy drive to reach the Isle of Man to collect the bees.
Andrew said: ‘Tresco Abbey Gardens is world famous for its temperate plant collection covering 17 acres. It should be a paradise for the Manx honey bees and we hope that they will thrive and increase the numbers of disease-free colonies on Tresco.’
The island of Tresco is unable to import bees from the UK because of the prevalence of diseases such as varroa which is endemic in the UK bee population.
Importation of bees to the Isle of Man has been prohibited for some years and the European Union recently recognised the island as officially varroa free, which beekeepers have been working towards since 2008. Our varroa free queen bees have already been exported to the UK Ireland and Germany.
The varroa mite can wipe out whole colonies.
