Plan Bee, Australia’s national honey bee genetic improvement program, has been initiated to provide the infrastructure necessary to implement modern genetic breeding techniques in the honey bee industry. The program builds on the considerable expertise in queen breeding in Australia and the progress made in previous and current programs. Plan Bee does not seek to replace these programs, but rather to provide new tools to assist queen breeders in order to speed genetic progress in their own breeding operations.
This manual has been developed in consultation with industry through surveys, interviews, and workshops. It is the culmination of all this feedback. The manual will be a ‘living document’ in that it will be updated to reflect feedback from those participating in the program and lessons that the project team learns from working with the diversity of queen breeders and beekeepers.