“Records
of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries indicate that no import permits
for bee products (Honey and pollen) have been granted by the chief plant
protection officer [at the] Apiculture Unit for their entry, and as such these
items are considered to be illegal”.
Statement from the
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries' Apiculture Unit that makes importing Honey
products illegal Jamaica is now on lockdown for imported Honey.
This
based on a statement issued in November 2015 by the Ministry of Agriculture and
Fisheries' Apiculture Unit advising against the importation of Honey and Honeybee
products from the US of A and elsewhere as noted in the article “Ministry:
No imported Honey, Honeybee products allowed”, published Wednesday,
November 25, 2015, The Jamaica
Observer.
This
ban has all the similarities of the Ministry of Agriculture ban on the
importation of chicken and chicken products due to the outbreak of the H5N2 disease
or Avian Flu as reported in my blog article
entitled “Ministry
of Agriculture bans US, Canadian Chicken Products - Why H5N2 Avian Flu is
Shadows of 2014 Chicken Shortage during Easter 2015”.
 |
The
fear is that imported Honey and other Honey be related products could introduce
disease into Jamaica that could decimate out local Honey Industry. All
importation of Honey and Honeybee products into the country was declared
illegal.
So
far, beekeepers have alerted the Apiculture Unit of health food stores in
Kingston and St Andrew selling eight (8) brands of imported Honey and one (1)
brand of bee pollen. These were ordered removed and confiscated as bees can
find contaminated Honey and other Honey products when discarded and take them
back to their hives introducing illness into the hive and causing the death of
that hive.
But
what exactly is the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries' Apiculture Unit so
afraid of that can decimate out local Bee population, destroy our Bee Industry
and possibly affect the Agriculture Industry?
Jamaica and AFB – How
the disease is spread and how it kills Honeybees
The
answer is a disease called AFB (American foulbrood) (Paenibacillus larvae ssp. larvae) that is spread via spores.
This
occurs in a manner similar to how Panama Disease (Fusarium Oxysporum) is spread among bananas as explained in my MICO Wars Blog article
entitled “How
the Panama Disease can destroy Caribbean Banana Farming by 2020”.
However
AFB (Paenibacillus larvae ssp. larvae)
is actually a rod shaped bacterium that infects the bee larvae when they are
three days old. It is introduced to the bee larvae when the other worker bees
fed them via regurgitating the infected Honey or other products from an
infected hive.
The
AFB (Paenibacillus larvae ssp. larvae)
spores germinate in the gut of the bee larvae and feed on the food that was
given to the bee, starving it of nourishment. This kills the bee larvae which
darken and then die.
As
the bee larvae dies it bursts forth with 100 million spores of the AFB (Paenibacillus larvae ssp. larvae)
bacterium, ready to spread to other bees coming to remove the dead larvae.
Because it hitches a ride on the fur of the bees that handle the contaminated
corpses of the larvae, it will spread to anything the bees come in contact with
from Honey, beeswax and even flowers.
Other
bees that steal Honey, beeswax as well as come in contact with the flowers that
these infected bees have will bring back the AFB (Paenibacillus larvae ssp. larvae) to their hive, infecting their
brood.
Spreading
bee by bee, hive by hive in this manner, the AFB (Paenibacillus larvae ssp. larvae) will decimate beehives, leaving
them empty and lifeless. The beekeeper is the one that suffer, as they cannot
sell their contaminated Honey, beeswax or other Honeybee products and will have
to destroy by fire.
 |
This
as if they are not destroyed, the spores, which can be viable for up to fifty
years, can spread to other hives as pointed out by the Ministry of Agriculture
in a statement, quote: “Finally, the beekeeper will lose their main source of
income. This will impact the Honey packers, suppliers of goods and services,
and over 14,000 persons who directly depend on the Industry for their
livelihood”.
Why Honeybees deaths
affect Honey Production and survival of Agriculture Industry
The
last time Jamaica has an outbreak of AFB (Paenibacillus
larvae ssp. larvae) was in 1918 and since then, there have been sporadic
outbreaks across several parishes. Honeybees are critical to the pollination of
fruit bearing crops such as pumpkin, pear, ackee and guinep.
Thus
if you spot anyone selling imported bee products such as Honey, pollen or
beeswax, it’s best to report it to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries'
Apiculture Unit as per the Bee Control Act of 1918: “Under the Bee Control Act
of 1918 no bees, Honey or beekeepers' stock shall be brought within the limits
of this Island, save with the permission in writing of the chief plant
protection officer first had and obtained, and any bees, Honey, or beekeepers'
stock brought within the limits of this Island without such permission may be
seized and destroyed at any time by any customs officer or by any officer or
sub-officer of the Jamaica Constabulary”.
Jamaica
may be on the cusp of a major outbreak of AFB. If we have another major
outbreak of AFB (Paenibacillus larvae
ssp. larvae), not only will it destroy the Honey Industry in Jamaica but
also the entire Fruit Production Sector of our Agriculture Industry.
Here’s
the link:
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