(Jamaica Observer) The agriculture ministry on Monday defended a decision to import a number of queen bees from Hungary, saying that they were needed to improve the genetics of local stock.
The ministry’s decision was explained by Reginald Peddie, head of the Apiculture Division at the Bodles Research Station. Peddie was responding to a caution issued by former agriculture minister Roger Clarke against the importation of the bees.
Clarke had argued that “the devastation caused by diseases affecting bees throughout the world is reason enough to tread wearily in bringing any foreign brood-stock into the country”.
According to Clarke, the Opposition People’s National Party spokesman on agriculture, “serious and detailed discussion must take place between all stakeholders before any such decision is taken” as the island’s bee-keeping industry is in a “fragile and vulnerable state”.
