Published - 15 September 2020 By Elizabeth Frost, NSW Department of Primary Industries Fungicides and their effects on honey bees The largest migration of livestock in Australia is upon us as almond bloom finishes and over 220,000 bee hives, some 6 trillion bees (give or … Read More agrichemicals, almonds, apple, canola, fungicides, pear, pesticides, pollination Agrichemicals, Managing your hives, Pollination
Published - 7 September 2020 By Nadine Chapman How is Plan Bee different from previous breeding programs? Our national honey bee genetic improvement program (Plan Bee) seeks to create a sustainable breeding program using innovative technologies to transform the performance of honey … Read More BLUP, breeding, database, estimated breeding values, genetics, honey levy, Plan bee, pollination, queen bees, traits Breeding, Managing your hives, Pests and diseases, Plan Bee, Pollination
Published - 28 August 2020 By Ben Oldroyd and Nadine Chapman Kangaroo Island bees You have probably heard that the honey bees of Kangaroo Island in South Australia are a special breed of ‘Ligurian’ Italian bees. Liguria is the … Read More genetics, Kangaroo Island, Ligurian bees Genetics, Uncategorized
Published - 14 August 2020 By Nadine Chapman Temper, temper No one likes a cranky colony. They can cause a lot of grief for urban beekeepers and pollination contractors in particular. It seems simple enough … Read More aggression, breeding, Plan bee, queen bees, temperament Breeding, Managing your hives, Plan Bee
Published - 7 August 2020 By Nadine Chapman European Foulbrood European foulbrood is a bacterial disease caused by Melissococcus plutonius. It is highly contagious. The brood are infected by food contaminated with the bacterium. The … Read More American foulbrood, European foulbrood, hive management Agrichemicals, Code of Practice, Managing your hives, Nutrition, Pests and diseases
Published - 17 July 2020 By Nadine Chapman Plan Bee National Honey Bee Genetic Improvement Program Plan Bee aims to work with queen breeders, producers, beekeepers and growers to create a sustainable national honey bee genetic improvement program using innovative breeding … Read More breeding, Plan bee, queen bees Breeding, Genetics, Plan Bee
Published - 2 July 2020 By Nadine Chapman Have your say on queen breeding If Australia is going to have a prosperous honey bee industry, then queen quality and breeding is going to be very important to make sure … Read More breeding, Plan bee, queen bees, queen producer, survey Breeding, Managing your hives, Pests and diseases, Plan Bee
Published - 22 June 2020 By Patsavee Utaipanon Is one food source good enough? Effects of monoculture on honey bees Nothing is as Australian as Vegemite on toast, but what if that was all you ate for every meal, every day? If that doesn’t sound very … Read More diet diversity, mononoculture, nutrition, pollination, remnant vegetation, weeds Managing your hives, Nutrition, Pollination
Published - 4 June 2020 By Nadine Chapman Hygienic behaviour For a colony to show hygienic behaviour, there are three things the workers must do. The first is detection: a worker bee must sense that … Read More American foulbrood, brood disease, chalkbrood, European foulbrood, hive management, hygienic behaviour, varroa Breeding, Managing your hives, Pests and diseases
Published - 22 May 2020 By Michael J Holmes How is Varroa like COVID-19? Tracking outbreaks of exotic diseases has never been more at the forefront of public thinking, and it’s important to remember that the honey bee industry … Read More colony density, drone congregation area, pollination, queen pheromone, varroa Pests and diseases, Pollination
Published - 15 May 2020 By Nadine Chapman B-QUAL – ensuring food safety standards B-QUAL Australia was established by the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council in 2002 with the aim that 90% of honey production be quality assured for … Read More B-QUAL, food safety standards, honey Agrichemicals, Managing your hives, Policy and compliance, Training & resources
Published - 12 May 2020 By Nadine Chapman Genetic evaluation of Australian honey bees An AgriFutures Australia project by Robert Banks and Vinzent Boerner of the Animal Genetics and Breeding Unit, a joint venture between NSW Department of Primary … Read More breeding, colony assessment, genetics, pedigree, queen bees Breeding, Genetics, Managing your hives, Pests and diseases