Mite may meet its match in bees' champion fungus

A Waikato scientist has turned a common fungus into a super weapon that could turn the tide in the battle against a mite that has devastated the bee industry.

Dr Mark Goodwin, of Plant and Food Research at Ruakura, has developed a metarhizium fungus-based product which is effective against the bee-killing varroa mite.

The new product should be ready for market, through US company Becker Underwood, next autumn. It is not harmful to bees and replaces a trio of synthetic chemical treatments which the mite is resistant to overseas. Kiwi beekeepers fear the resistance will spread to New Zealand. The mite, which feeds on the pupa of bees, arrived in New Zealand nine years ago. Dr Goodwin, who was a finalist in the Kudos science awards in Hamilton last week, said the metarhizium fungus came in thousands of varieties and was well known around the world for its insect-killing properties. Dr Goodwin said other scientists had used the fungus over short periods to kill the mite with 10-15 per cent effectiveness but he had found the longer it was used the more mites it killed. His success rate, over time, was about 90 per cent.

Dr Goodwin said it was hard to put a figure on how much his work would be worth to the economy, but it would be many millions of dollars. The pollination of crops, Biosecurity NZ says, is worth many times the value of honey and other bee products.

Bill Bennett, who has run SummerGlow Apiaries at Te Kowhai near Hamilton with wife Margaret for more than 30 years, said using the fungus-based product Dr Goodwin had developed sounded preferable to a miticide.

Mr Bennett has spent more than $67,000 fighting varroa since 2001.

- © Fairfax NZ News