News & Events

  • 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

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

    Learn about Asian hornets with Bee Biosecurity Officer Rebecca Laws

    12/02/2021 – 8:44 am

    As the Bee Biosecurity Officer for Queensland, I keep my eyes peeled for bee pests and diseases when I am undertaking demonstrations or hive checks. More importantly though, I educate beekeepers throughout Queensland on the pests and diseases that they should be looking for in their own hives and how to identify them. Asian hornets […] Read more

  • 2019 Honey Bee Health Survey results

    15/01/2021 – 11:05 am

    The Honey Bee Health Survey 2019 was designed to provide a snapshot of bee health in the Australian honey bee industry, focusing on issues such as pests and diseases and pollination. Following on from the 2018 Honey Bee Health Survey, the survey examined the level of biosecurity awareness amongst Australian beekeepers, including knowledge of pest […] Read more

  • NSW Bee Biosecurity Officer update December 2020

    15/12/2020 – 12:14 pm

    In this update, NSW Bee Biosecurity Officer (BBO) Rod Bourke provides an overview of his main activities since March 2020. It’s fair to say that I have found the last seven months to be about the weirdest time in my life, and there has been a lot of uncertainty that has made it tough for […] Read more

  • Is it truly great to self-pollinate?

    04/11/2020 – 11:41 am

    It’s a serious question raised in a slightly naughty way in ‘Pollination Week’, the Australian Pollinator Week theme song released today. “I couldn’t help smiling as I began to contemplate it” said Fiona Chambers, CEO of the Wheen Bee Foundation, “and that’s what makes this theme song so great; it does make you think about […] Read more

  • Victorian Bee Biosecurity Officer update November 2020

    03/11/2020 – 4:26 pm

    This update provides an overview Victorian BBO Ally Driessen’s main activities since mid-2020 Read more

  • Bee biosecurity webinar recordings now available

    19/10/2020 – 9:18 am

    Earlier this year, Queensland Bee Biosecurity Officer Rebecca Laws presented a series of webinars covering a wide range of bee biosecurity topics like how to check your hive for pests and diseases. The webinars were recorded and are now available to watch on the Biosecurity Queensland YouTube channel and below. Ants, waxmoth and hive beetle This […] Read more

  • Tasmanian Bee Biosecurity Officer update

    30/09/2020 – 8:55 am

    This update from the Tasmanian Bee Biosecurity Officer (BBO) Karla Williams gives an overview of her main activities from November 2019 to September 2020. In November 2019, Karla attended the field days of the North-West and Southern branches of the Tasmanian Beekeepers Association (TBA). These were key events for providing biosecurity messages and demonstrating varroa […] Read more

  • WA Bee Biosecurity Officer update

    26/08/2020 – 4:42 pm

    This update from the WA Bee Biosecurity Officer James Sheehan gives an overview of his main activities from August 2019 to June 2020.   National Bee Biosecurity Program In WA, like in many other states, the Bee Biosecurity Officer (BBO) role is split between multiple programs. Half my time is focused on delivering the National […] Read more

  • Bee ballooning: measuring honey bee population density to support biosecurity

    19/08/2020 – 3:35 pm

    Researchers at the University of Sydney have refined a technique for rapidly assessing the number of honey bee colonies in an area. “Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic we have never been more aware of how diseases move through a population,” said Michael Holmes, one of the project’s researchers. “We have seen that outbreaks are […] Read more

  • Maximise your crop with better pollination

    19/08/2020 – 3:14 pm

    The latest guidelines in a series on how to improve pollination are now available for lychees and papayas, joining the earlier brochures for macadamias, avocados, blueberries and melons. Brian Cutting, Research Associate at Plant & Food Research Australia, said that pollination is a critical step to maximise the yield of many crops, but it sometimes […] Read more

  • Queensland Bee Biosecurity Officer update

    22/07/2020 – 11:30 am

    This update from the Queensland Bee Biosecurity Officer Rebecca Laws gives an overview of her main activities since early 2020.   Bee Biosecurity Roadshow During February, I took to the road to deliver the Bee Biosecurity Roadshow to spread bee biosecurity messages throughout Queensland. Travelling up the coast from Brisbane to north Queensland, I visited […] 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

  • Bee biosecurity public talk series

    18/05/2020 – 12:47 pm

    Queensland’s Bee Biosecurity Officer Rebecca Laws has taken her bee biosecurity workshops online. From 26 May to 21 July 2020, Rebecca will present a talk every second Tuesday at 7 pm AEST. She will cover a range of bee biosecurity topics including how to check your hive for pests and diseases and hot topics such […] 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

  • SA Bee Biosecurity Officer update

    06/05/2020 – 2:43 pm

    This update from South Australia’s Bee Biosecurity Officer Teagan Alexander gives an overview of her main activities since late 2019. Compliance issues Across South Australia various compliance issues have cropped up including holes in boxes, unregistered hives, exposed materials and unmanaged hives. The number of weak or dead hives on lucerne showed the stresses of […] 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