Vita 2016 Photo Competition Winners

1. Belgium Rond-Point R.Schuman 11 1040 Brussels Phone: +32 2 588 5803 Fax: +32 2 588 5804 Canada Suite 300, 1090 Homer St Vancouver, BC V6B 2W9 Phone: +1 778 807 9713 Fax: +1 778 807 9657 Singapore 146 Robinson Road #07-01 Singapore 068909 Phone: +65 65009377 Fax: +65 68355173 United States of America 712 H Street NE, Suite 1110 Washington DC 20002 Phone: +1 202 869 0988 Fax: +1 202 869 1121 PRESS RELEASE Date: 5th December 2016 Title: Vita 2016 Photo Competition Winners Photo: Sadie Illett The overall winner of Vita’s 2016 international photo competition is Lester Quayle with his image of industrious housekeeping honey bees. May Smith is the under-16 winner for her striking photograph of a pollen-carrying honey bee just landed on a brood frame. Entries will appear in the limited edition 2016 Vita Calendar distributed to Vita’s global network and the winners. Some of the photos are below and a pdf file of the full calendar is available for free download to users of the Vita Gallery www.vita- europe.com/gallery. The 2017 Vita Calendar monthly line-up is: January ………. Gregory Howard February ……… Lenka Kalpachka March …………. Dave Clark April …………… May Smith May ……………. Jodi Schaap June …………… Steve Minshall July ……………. Leka Huie August ………… Lester Quayle September …… Keith Pierce October ……….. Mark Derbyshire November ……. Graham Lumsden December ……. Gregory Howard

2. Honourable mention: Sue Howe Sebastian Owen, Commercial Manager at Vita (Europe) Ltd, said: “Again, this year saw entries from across the world. Very special congratulations must go to our under-16 winner, Miss May Smith. For the second year running she has won the youth category with a beautiful image showing some of the colours seen in beekeeping. We warmly thank all entrants and our judging panel.” The 2017 Vita Calendar will be sent to Vita distributors across the globe, but a medium resolution pdf file of the calendar can be downloaded at no cost by registered users of the Vita Photo Gallery. Registration is free and it can be accessed via www.vita- europe.com/gallery The international judging panel for 2016 was: Tiago Brás of HiFarmaX in Portugal, Bruce Clow of Ceracell in New Zealand, Svetlana Pantyukhina of Vita CIS in Russia, Miguel Tejerina of Apilab in Argentina, plus Paulo Mielgo, Alastair Taylor, and Max Watkins on behalf of Vita (Europe) in the UK. A selection of the photos is below. Sign up for the Vita Gallery (free) and download the 2017 Vita Calendar. About Vita (Europe) Limited Vita (Europe) Limited is a mite control and honeybee health specialist. It is the world’s largest dedicated supplier of honeybee health products to the honey and pollination industries. With a rigorous and ethical approach to research and development into honeybee health, Vita has no commercial interests in crop pesticides or crop breeding that may be harmful to honeybees. Vita researches, develops, and manufactures a range of honeybee health products. Its headquarters are in the UK, it has offices in Italy, France and Russia, and partners across the globe. These products are marketed internationally through a network of 60 distributors in 50 countries. Vita’s honeybee health product range includes anti-varroa acaricides – Apistan® (outside the USA/Canada) and Apiguard® controls, foulbrood diagnostic kits and health-promoting – chalkbrood and wax feeds. moth also Vita

3. supplies Asian hornet traps, Small Hive Beetle traps and swarm lures. Vita products have been registered by more than 60 veterinary authorities. Vita promotes sustainable beekeeping through Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Its treatments are designed to inhibit the build-up of resistance and wherever possible contain natural compounds and biological controls that are benign to all but the target pests. Vita invests a very high proportion of its turnover in research and development. Research partners include universities such as Thessaloniki, Cardiff, Milan, Udine and Naples and institutes such as the FERA Laboratories in the UK and the USDA in America. Vita’s innovative research and development work has been recognised by and has received support from the UK Government. As a result of its primary research of natural control agents, Vita is currently engaged in new projects exploring mite control in the agriculture, veterinary, and horticulture industries as well as public health and human allergen control. See www.vita-europe.com for more information and a web app which can be accessed at www.healthybeeguide.com. Follow Vita as “Vita (Europe) Ltd” on Facebook and Google+ and as @vitaeuropeltd on Twitter. This press release was distributed by the International Trade Council. International Trade Council Member news does not necessarily represent the views of the Trade Council nor the Council's employees. For more information on the International Trade council please visit http://www.tradecouncil.org or drop by on Twitter at http:/www.twitter.com/inttradecouncil