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Fears Asian bee is Australia's next cane toad</a>
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Friday, 04 March 2011 17:29 <br><br>
The aggressive and invasive Asian honey bee could become as bad a pest in
Australia as the cane toad, a senator warned Wednesday, adding that the
insect could threaten the country's food supply.<br><br>
The cane toad, a prolific breeder which secretes a toxin that can kill
pets and wildlife, has spread widely in tropical Australia since being
introduced to kill beetles in the 1930s, devouring insects, bird's eggs
and native species such as the quoll, a cat-like marsupial.<br><br>
Greens Senator Christine Milne said the bee industry was at risk from an
incursion of Apis cerana in the northeastern city of Cairns which was
first detected in 2007.<br><br>
"It is the 21st century equivalent of the cane toad and the bee
keepers have been saying that for some time," Milne told reporters,
describing the pest as "a cane toad with wings".<br><br>
The Australian bee industry has urged the eradication of the Asian
species, which undermines European honey bee populations by competing for
food, robbing hives and transmitting disease and parasites.<br><br>
The industry fears that if the Asian bee becomes established it will
destroy European honey bee populations, which are kept in hives and
transported around the country to pollinate crops.<br><br>
Because the Asian bee cannot be kept in boxes, it is not suitable for
such pollination techniques.<br><br>
But government officials are likely to abandon an attempt to wipe out the
Asian species at the end of April after saying it was "no longer
technically feasible to achieve eradication".<br><br>
Sustainability Minister Tony Burke said the decision by the Asian honey
bee management group was based on scientific research.<br><br>
"But (it) does not amount to a decision that there will not be
continued engagement in other areas other than eradication in terms of
control," he told parliament.<br>
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