Report: Impact of Varroa mite on pollination and Australia’s national food security
Varroa pollination system risk analysis reveals impacts on bee health, crop production and food security.
NATIONAL CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Plan Bee: Beekeeper and queen bee breeder surveys 2020
23 pages
Published: 1 Mar 2021
Publication Code: 21-051
Author(s): Nadine Chapman, Elizabeth Frost
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Plan Bee, Australia’s Honey Bee Genetic Improvement Program, has been initiated in order to implement modern breeding principles in the Australian honey bee industry. Australia’s honey bee industry supports many other industries through pollination services. Strong, healthy colonies and a strong, profitable beekeeping industry are essential to ensure Australia’s food security.
As part of this initiative, two surveys were undertaken to assess beekeepers’ and queen producers’ attitudes around queen production and purchase and toward Plan Bee and past bee breeding programs. This information is sought to inform Plan Bee of the needs of the beekeeping industry with respect to bee breeding and to learn from their experience.
The survey questions were approved by the University of Sydney Human Ethics project 2020/193. Surveys were completed online using REDCap v10.0.1 (Vanderbilt University) and promoted on the Plan Bee website, eXtensionAUS Professional Beekeepers website and associated social media, in the Australasian Beekeeper magazine, and through industry association mailing lists and newsletters.
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