An air of gloom hung over the open day at the Teagasc Beekeeping Research Unit in Clonroche yesterday. The day before had been D-day for Irish beekeepers. Overnight the Deparment of Agriculture and Food had destroyed 10 million bees in 150 hives in Co Sligo to prevent the spread of varroa mite which preys on colonies and wipes them out.
There was anger too that that somehow the pest had been introduced into Ireland, the last place in the world outside Australia to be free of the mite.
Not even the news that substantial compensation of £80 per hive will be paid to the beekeepers concerned, brightened the day.
"We are at a crossroads in beekeeping in Ireland from here on in. We will have to learn to live with varroa like everyone else," said Mr Patsey Bennet, the Teagasc bee expert.
While he was lecturing the beekeepers, who came from all over the country to the session on how to spot the mite in hives, an angry debate was going on as to how the long-resisted pest had eventually made its way into this country.
None of the five beekeepers from Sligo who had been hit by the mite was in attendance.
Mr Michael O' Callaghan, the Cork president of the Irish Beekeepers Federation appealed to beekeepers and the public to destroy any swarms of wild bees they might find in the Sligo/Mayo area over the next few weeks.
"They can spread the mite because they cannot be controlled like the bees we handle. If anyone sees a swarm of wild bees, they should destroy them," he said.