Varroa scare in South Island New Zealand recedes

Restrictions on the movement of hives in South Island have been lifted for all but 23 beekeepers in South Island, New Zealand. It now seems that the cock-up cross-contamination theory is true.

Restrictions were originally imposed on over 300 beekeepers' hive movements because two varroa were found in samples from bee colonies in the Canterbury area. But those varroa probably got there through cross-contamination from samples from North Island. South Island may still be varroa-free.