"A lot of agriculture requires pollination of crops to provide the food that we eat so it's difficult to keep bees away from these danger areas, but we rely on people using chemicals. "At the end of the day, chemicals are going to be required to contain a range of insects and we always need to be careful that if one is banned, what will they use to replace it? "I think we need to be very careful when we call for a ban on any farm-used chemicals," Mr Cunial said. Steve Cunial, who is a commercial beekeeper near Griffith and vice-president of the New South Wales Apiarists Association, said bee poisonings were becoming more common, especially for beekeepers operating in agricultural areas.īut Mr Cunial did not support a total ban on Fipronil. The Authority added that it was an offence to use pesticides in a way that harmed non-target animals, with fines of up to $120,000 for individuals and $250,000 for a corporation. The NSW EPA could not comment on how frequently bee poisoning occurred but said in the past two years about 12 per cent of reports to the Environment Line for the Riverina Far West were related to pesticides. "Why are we using it in Australia when there are other products available for people to use?" Move Them After Dark I almost always wait until dusk to move a swarm. "This poison has been banned in the United States, it's been banned in Europe in 45 different countries and the main reason for that is that it kills bees. They seem to naturally be drawn to the safety of an enclosed box. "Where do I put my bees next year - if I have any left?" "Still today we have no idea what has caused it, where the bees foraged for this poison," he said. Mr Carter had moved his hives away from broadacre farms and closer to town in preparation for winter to give the bees more opportunity to forage for food in local gardens. "They were all affected by the same chemical at the same time." "Every beekeeper who was involved had their hives in different areas but all in the same region, in the Yoogali and Hanwood areas near Griffith," Mr Carter said. The EPA had not been able to identify the source of the chemical. "They will have to get other beekeepers from other areas to come into Griffith, which will cost them more money for the season." Source of the chemical unknownĪn investigation by the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) found the presence of Fipronil was likely to have contributed to the mass bee deaths. "It's not only a loss for the bee keepers, it's also a loss for the farmers who rely on the pollination for the year," Mr Carter said. The mass bee death is estimated to have cost the apiarists up to $170,000 but the impact could stretch further to horticultural producers. Five apiarists lost up to 10 million bees in the Fipronil poisoning.
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