Surveillance

  • What can Covid-19 teach us about varroa?

    05/07/2021 – 4:22 pm

    Parasitic varroa mites are a lot like Covid-19. The mites are hard to spot, can spread easily, and it’s a matter of ‘when’ they arrive in Australia, not ‘if’. Read more

  • Victoria prepares for 2021 almond pollination

    11/05/2021 – 1:06 pm

    Beekeepers participating in the 2021 almond pollination season are reminded to adequately prepare their hives Read more

  • The importance of exotic mite surveillance in Australian beekeeping

    15/04/2021 – 9:02 am

    Rod Bourke, NSW Bee Biosecurity Officer, discusses the importance of mite surveillance. Read more

  • Free biosecurity course for Aussie beekeepers

    16/07/2020 – 9:42 am

    The Biosecurity for Beekeepers online course is now free for all Australian beekeepers, increasing the accessibility of training which will help protect the honey bee industry from pests and diseases. Trevor Weatherhead, Chair of the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC), said the course was previously only free for commercial beekeepers who had 50 or […] Read more

  • Almond pollination preparation 2020

    14/05/2020 – 9:45 am

    The 2020 almond pollination season is not far away. The Agriculture Victoria apiary team reminds beekeepers planning to provide pollination services that it is vital to adequately prepare hives so that they are healthy and strong to work in the orchards. Australian Honey Bee Industry Biosecurity Code of Practice (‘the Code’) Almond pollination season provides […] Read more

  • Victoria strengthens bee biosecurity and Varroa mite preparedness

    30/04/2020 – 12:49 pm

    Agriculture Victoria’s apiary team increased the national award-winning State Quarantine Response Team (SQRT) in early March this year. Training was delivered to 25 new field team leaders (authorised Agriculture Victoria staff) and 35 industry members/beekeepers who wanted to help protect the industry from incursions of exotic bee pests. The SQRT program proved its worth when […] Read more

  • New tool to strengthen bee surveillance

    17/04/2020 – 12:00 pm

    State and territory apiary and biosecurity officers recently came together to have their first look at a new tool to streamline the collection of bee pest surveillance data. The Bee Surveillance Portal is an online application which has been developed to manage the data collected by the National Bee Pest Surveillance Program (NBPSP) field activities. […] Read more

  • Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera), Crown Copyright

    Eyes in the apiary: external mite surveillance

    17/04/2020 – 11:47 am

    Current world events have highlighted the level of management required for preventative biosecurity and, even more so, the difficulty of tracing and eradication once an incursion breaches the border. They have also illustrated the importance of an individual’s actions. When it comes to bee biosecurity, all beekeepers need to be vigilant to support the early […] Read more

  • It’s Sugar Shake Month!

    03/04/2020 – 8:58 am

    April is Sugar Shake Month, a joint initiative between NSW DPI, Amateur Beekeepers Association NSW, NSW Apiarists Association and the National Bee Biosecurity Program to promote awareness and surveillance for exotic bee mites in Australia. During April, all beekeepers are encouraged to perform a sugar shake test and submit their results to the NSW DPI. […] Read more

  • Victorian Bee Biosecurity Officer update

    17/03/2020 – 2:44 pm

    At the end of 2019 and beginning of 2020, Victorian Bee Biosecurity Officer Ally Driessen focused on bee biosecurity and disease and pest risk mitigation through: Supporting beekeepers who have notified the department about pests, diseases and bee deaths. These are mostly cases of suspected American Foulbrood (AFB) and chalkbrood. Supporting councils (through the Apiary […] Read more

  • October is AFB Awareness Month

    14/10/2019 – 10:05 am

    It’s that time of year again. NSW DPI is asking beekeepers to inspect their hives and work together to minimise the occurrence of American foulbrood (AFB) in NSW hives. What is AFB? AFB is a fatal and incurable disease of European honey bees caused by the bacterium Paenibacillus larvae. The bacterium kills the bee larvae […] Read more

  • Bee biosecurity aware

    12/09/2019 – 2:22 pm

    PIRSA Biosecurity SA is reminding beekeepers to be on the lookout for American foulbrood (AFB) following a detection in hives in the Mount Barker area. AFB is a notifiable bacterial disease that kills honeybee brood, resulting in the weakening and eventual death of affected hives. General Manager of Plant and Food Standards at Biosecurity SA, […] Read more

  • How surveillance protects our bees

    25/03/2019 – 11:45 am

    Surveillance for bee pests from overseas is essential to maintaining a healthy bee population in Australia and protecting our beekeeping industry. The National Bee Pest Surveillance Program (NBPSP) monitors for the presence of exotic bee pests and pest bees, as well as regionalised bee pests, across 32 sea and air ports. Dr Jenny Shanks, Bee […] Read more

  • Bee aware of foulbrood

    25/09/2018 – 5:34 pm

    NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) has declared American foulbrood (AFB) Awareness Month this October to help keep local bee hives healthy and productive. DPI plant biosecurity prevention and preparedness manager, Chris Anderson, urged beekeepers across the state to look for symptoms of AFB and take prompt action. “If there are signs of AFB, dark […] Read more

  • Update on bee biosecurity programs

    19/09/2018 – 12:42 pm

    Bee Biosecurity Officers have been busy over the last few months, taking part in Exercise Bee Prepared, as well as compliance and surveillance operations, and going to industry meetings and field days. Encouraging beekeepers to follow best management practices for diseases like American foulbrood continues to be a major focus. The officers are also talking […] Read more

  • Port surveillance system targets exotic bee pests

    17/07/2018 – 1:09 pm

    Australia has one of the strongest honey bee surveillance program in the world, with 170 closely monitored beehives at 32 ports across Australia providing an early warning system for exotic bee pests and diseases. In the wake of a recent varroa mite detection in an incoming ship to the Port of Melbourne there is a […] Read more

  • Help us stop varroa mite in its tracks

    09/07/2018 – 4:07 pm

    Agriculture Victoria is urging anyone with unregistered or feral bee hives within a surveillance zone around the Port of Melbourne to contact them. The surveillance zone was established following a detection of varroa mite at the Port last week. Acting Chief Plant Health Officer Nigel Ainsworth said Agriculture Victoria is currently undertaking precautionary surveillance of […] Read more

  • Opening a hive

    Townsville residents asked to report unusual bee activity

    07/12/2017 – 8:37 am

    Biosecurity Queensland is asking Townsville residents to keep reporting unusual bees and unmanaged bee colonies. Public assistance is an essential part of the hunt for varroa mite, which was first detected in an Asian honey bee nest at the Port of Townsville in June 2016. “We have had excellent support from local beekeepers and the […] Read more

  • Keepers urged to be on the lookout for deadly disease

    19/10/2017 – 2:25 pm

    Beekeepers have been urged to look out for discoloured brood and dead larvae, both symptoms of NSW’s most serious brood disease of honey bees, American foulbrood (AFB). The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) today declared October as AFB Awareness Month – a month-long campaign dedicated to educating beekeepers across the state about the fatal and […] Read more

  • Roosting rainbow bee-eaters needed to find Asian honey bees in Townsville

    18/07/2017 – 3:22 pm

    The National Varroa Mite Eradication Program (NVMEP) is seeking public assistance to locate roosts of rainbow bee-eaters in the Townsville area. The program uses a variety of surveillance methods to detect Asian honey bees, one of which relies on the rainbow bee-eater birds, which occur throughout Townsville. As all beekeepers know, bee-eaters love to eat […] Read more