Published - 28 March 2025 By Professional Beekeepers CoP Varroa mite resources for Australian beekeepers – Essential information and support Varroa mite is a major challenge for Australian beekeepers, but there are plenty of resources to help manage the pest and protect honey bee populations. The … Read More biosecurity, breeding, miticide, training, varroa Agrichemicals, Biosecurity, Breeding, Code of Practice, Managing your hives, Pests and diseases, Training & resources, Varroa
Published - 28 January 2025 By Nadine Chapman and Jody Gerdts Varroa resistance: what trait/s should you focus on? We’re all worried about what varroa means for beekeeping in the future. There is no doubt that things will change. Imagine living with varroa without putting … Read More breeding, resistance, varroa Breeding, Pests and diseases, Plan Bee, Varroa
Published - 20 December 2024 By Nadine Chapman and Jody Gerdts Varroa resistance: low mite population growth Selecting colonies with low mite population (LMP) or reduced mite population growth (MPG) to breed from will result in decreased mite loads. Measurement is quick … Read More breeding, Pol-line, varroa Breeding, Pests and diseases, Plan Bee, Varroa
Published - 9 December 2024 By Nadine Chapman and Jody Gerdts Varroa resistance: mite non reproduction and varroa sensitive hygiene Mite non reproduction (MNR) or suppressed mite reproduction (SMR) is a suite of traits, and factors, that work together to limit successful mite reproduction. Some … Read More breeding, mite non-reproduction, suppressed mite reproduction, varroa, varroa resistance, varroa sensitive hygiene Breeding, Pests and diseases, Varroa
Published - 27 November 2024 By Nadine Chapman, NSW DPIRD Breeding for virus resistance As worried as we may be of varroa, deformed wing virus (DWV) and other varroa associated viruses are the true killer. Australia doesn’t have DWV … Read More breeding, varroa, virus Breeding, Pests and diseases, Varroa
Published - 13 November 2024 By Nadine Chapman and Jody Gerdts New tools for selecting varroa resistant bees: unhealthy brood odour and varroa volatiles Varroa Sensitive Hygiene (VSH) occurs when workers recognise that the brood has been infested with varroa and uncap the cell. They may then recap the … Read More breeding, hygienic behaviour, varroa, varroa sensitive hygiene Breeding, Pests and diseases, Varroa
Published - 28 October 2024 By Nadine Chapman, NSW DPIRD Varroa resistance: short development time African and Africanized bees tend to have greater natural resilience to Varroa. One mechanism associated with this resistance is that these bees have a shorter … Read More breeding, Brood, varroa Breeding, Pests and diseases, Varroa
Published - 25 October 2024 By Jody Gerdts, Bee Scientifics Varroa resistance: grooming and biting What is grooming and mite biting? Grooming is a behavioural resistance mechanism where bees remove mites from themselves (autogrooming) or nestmates (allogrooming). Bees have a unique … Read More breeding, Grooming, varroa Breeding, Pests and diseases, Varroa
Published - 31 October 2023 By Nadine Chapman, Professional Beekeepers CoP Who is Professional Beekeepers for? The Professional Beekeepers Community of Practice has been established to meet the needs of rural and regional Australians for the extension of beekeeping knowledge and … Read More biosecurity, breeding, hive management, Plan bee, queen bees, varroa Agrichemicals, Beekeeping on public land, Biosecurity, Breeding, Code of Practice, Disaster relief, Genetics, Honey, Managing your hives, Nutrition, Pests and diseases, Plan Bee, Policy and compliance, Pollination, Registration, Training & resources
Published - 30 March 2023 By Nadine Chapman, University of Sydney Update on Plan Bee genetic testing: getting good quality DNA Plan Bee aims to produce Estimated Breeding Values that will give an indication of how a queen performs for a trait in comparison to other … Read More breeding, estimated breeding values, genetic testing, Plan bee, samples Breeding, Genetics, Plan Bee
Published - 22 February 2023 By Nadine Chapman and Elizabeth Frost 2022 Plan Bee Survey results: breeding objectives Plan Bee, Australia’s national honey bee genetic improvement program conducts an annual survey of beekeepers and breeders to determine attitudes and opinions surrounding honey bee … Read More breeding, honey, Plan bee, queen bees, temperament Breeding, Genetics, Pests and diseases, Plan Bee
Published - 11 January 2023 By Nadine Chapman (Sydney University) and Kim Bunter (Animal Genetics & Breeding Unit, University of New England) What makes an effective target for selection There are countless traits that beekeepers may be interested in selecting for, however, not all these traits are actually effective targets for selection. There are 6 … Read More breeding, evaluation, heritability, queen bees, varroa resistance Breeding, Plan Bee
