Kane Cottage Honey

Sady more varroa has been discovered and the last remaining part of the Central Coast / Lake Macquarie has been declared part of the red zone (Bee euthanasia and poison baiting zone)... there has also been a detection "out west."

It has nearly been a year since we had to give up our Bees, after their hives were euthanised. The supposed 3 year moratorium on keeping Bees has still not been declared as started... i think some keepers won't ever be able to pick it up again at this rate - a huge loss of experience, coupled with the ongoing impact on local farmers.

We miss our Bees... 😞 🐝

Sorry for the lack of posts. As some of you may know, the Varroa Destructor has been found in NSW. The threat to the Honey industry and wider Australian Agriculture is massive, it can't be overstated. Australia is effectively the only country that does not have this mite. It has spread from Asia in the Americas, Africa, Europe and even got into New Zealand a few years ago, wiping out 70% of all their hives within a couple of years and nearly destroying their industry. Varroa is one of the major threats to Bee populations around the world, alongside pesticides and habitat destruction.

All Hives in NSW went into lockdown, couldn't be moved. All Hive owners were ordered to inspect their hives for the mite immediately, by the Department of Primary Industry (DPI). So serious was the threat that any positive result would result in a 10km eradication zone begining declared around that location. All hives would be killed off inside that zone, whether infected or not.
Thankfully our hives were negative.

Then came a positive detection on the Central Coast, at Calga. Then another near Somersby. The DPI began undertaking onsite alcohol tests. These were considered more accurate, but also killed hundreds of bees at a time - they don't survive the testing process.
We were visted by the DPI and again the results were negative. (They even commented on how good the Hives were looking and how good a job it looked like we have done with them.)

Tragically, two days after that we found out there had been a positive detection in Wyong. Placing us inside an eradication zone.

The communication from the DPI hasn't been the best and hasn't always been the most clear of information. However, what they are undertaking is a thankless task and can't be easy to undertake. We had hoped we may have been downgraded to a restricted zone, as there have been no further positive results on the Central Coast since.
However, this has not eventuated and we received email confirmation this lunchtime that euthanasia of all beehives in Central Coast eradication zones will commence from Monday 22nd August. While we were allowed to do a final Honey harvest, this will be kept for our family now.

Once an area has been fully euthanised, we are not allows to own Bees for over three years. I can't say if we will come back after that time or not.

We would like to thank everyone who has bought Kane Cottage Honey though. The Bees we cared for are amazing creatures and we feel they paid our efforts back many times over. The thought of not seeing any Bees across the majority of the Coast for the next few years is heart breaking. Alas, the threat to agriculture is too serious to be taken lightly, hence the extreme measures.

Its been a blast and who knows what will happen in the future - but for now, Kane Cottage Honey is no more.

A final thought: we live in an amazing, yet fragile world. Enjoy it, be aware of it, look after it.
As Wordsworth said "nature never did betray the heart that loved her..."

🐝😢🐝😭🐝