Media Releases

Beekeepers and farmers encouraged to use technology to communicate this season

21/12/2016 – 10:01 am The Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC) and Cotton Australia are calling on all farmers and beekeepers to use online tools to better communicate with each other to protect bees and crops. Cotton Australia CEO, Adam Kay, says the BeeConnected app facilitates communication between farmers and beekeepers as a tool to ensure crop protection is […] Read more

How pollination will change if Varroa destructor mite hits Australia

20/12/2016 – 3:21 pm Currently Australia has a high concentration of feral honey bee colonies – that is unmanaged hives in the wild—and these helpful insects pollinate many crops. But as overseas experience has shown, if there should be an incursion of the honey bee parasite Varroa destructor in Australia, this invader would kill off unmanaged hives, with the […] Read more

Response team make a bee-line to Asian honey bee nest

12/09/2016 – 12:00 pm Another Asian honey bee nest has been found in the Hyde Park area of Townsville, but there were no varroa mites on the bees or in the nest. Biosecurity Queensland Varroa Mite Response Coordinator Dr Ashley Bunce said this latest nest was located in the eaves of a house that backed on to the property […] Read more

Asian honey bees found in wine barrel

16/08/2016 – 1:45 pm A wine barrel used as a table on a Hyde Park family’s verandah has been revealed as the latest home for Asian honey bees in Townsville. Biosecurity Queensland officers working on the Varroa mite eradication response were alerted by the home owner last week, after she noticed bees entering a small hole at the side […] Read more

Bee hunters take to streets

28/07/2016 – 12:47 pm A small army of bee hunters has taken to the streets of Townsville searching for any signs of Asian honey bees, the hosts of the parasitic varroa mite. Varroa Mite Response director Ashley Bunce said Biosecurity Queensland was leading the eradication effort with support from industry following the discovery of varroa mites in a nest […] Read more