Surveillance

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

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