Honey Bee & Pollination

Honey Bee & Pollination Advisory Panel

Professor Ben Oldroyd (Chair)

Professor of Behavioural Genetics, University of Sydney

Ben has worked in the fields of honey bee genetics, behaviour and ecology for over 40 years. Throughout his career, Ben has held roles with the Victorian Department of Agriculture, the United States Department of Agriculture Honey Bee Breeding Laboratory in Baton Rouge and the Australian Research Council at La Trobe University. He has made important contributions to the industry, including researching the biology of Asian honey bees and Cape bees, launching the BEE Lab at the University of Sydney, establishing Plan Bee and helping beekeepers breed better, healthier strains. Ben has attained a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture at the University of Sydney, where he completed his PhD in bee breeding. He has authored over 300 scientific papers on honey bees and stingless bees, and in 2001 received a Doctor of Science for his contributions to the understanding of the evolution of honey bee societies. As Chair of the AgriFutures Honey Bee & Pollination Advisory Panel, Ben wants to use his unique skill set as a beekeeper, scientist and board member, to raise the profile of the program and make a lasting difference in the industry.

Dr Rob Manning

Independent Consultant

Rob is a former research scientist for the WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. Over the past 27 years, Rob’s beekeeping-research career has been topically wide and not confined to any one thing. His career highlights include an evaluation of the WA queen bee breeding program, surveying pollens for their fatty acid profiles and testing fatty acid enhanced feedstuffs to improve bee nutrition, and research into WA honeys – using the late Professor Molan’s methodology – to find antimicrobial activity in WA honeys. This project originally discovered the high activity of jarrah and marri (redgum) honeys (higher than manuka). Rob is keen to work with the Advisory Panel to explore honey bee nutrition, pollination and how honey bees can improve food production in Australia, as well as the drone side of queen bee breeding. Rob is also the recipient of several awards including the Goodacre Memorial Award, the Best Innovation or Invention Award (WA Government) and the Inventors Award (Karragullen Field Day).

Steve Fuller

Co-owner, Bee Services

Steve has worked in the honey bee industry for over 40 years. With his brother Wayne they run Bee Services in northern NSW, producing organic honey and pollinating fruit, berries and nuts across the north coast. Bee Services has been certified as an organic producer by the Biological Farmers Association since 2005. Steve is a member of the Crop Pollination Association of Australia and is the current President of the north coast branch of the NSW Apiarists Association. He is passionate about educating people both within the honey bee industry and across the wider community, about the benefits of bees and their importance in the food chain. Through his involvement on the Advisory Panel, Steve wants to share his experience and knowledge to advance the Australian honey bee industry and see an increased appreciation of the industry. He believes that if industry and researchers work together practical research outcomes will be delivered to address industry challenges.

Ashley Zamek

Hort Innovation

Ashley is the Research and Development Manager of the Pollination Fund, part of the Hort Frontiers strategic partnership initiative at Hort Innovation. Ashley works with the 35 industries Hort Innovation represents, to address the need to create a sustainable and resilient Australian horticultural sector through improved crop pollination services and pollinator options. Ashley was appointed to the AgriFutures Honey Bee & Pollination Advisory Panel in 2017.

Millie Enbom-Goad

Enbom Honeys

Millie is a third-generation professional beekeeper from Victoria whose passion for beekeeping began as a teenager. Millie, together with her mother, run their own business Enbom Honeys, producing honey and undertaking commercial pollination of specific high value seed crops such as Buckwheat. With her academic background in science, Millie has a strong understanding of the benefit that well placed research can give to the honey bee and pollination industry. As someone who is heavily involved with commercial beekeeping associations in Victoria, Millie is keen to work with industry to ensure that future research is focused on the needs of industry and communicated effectively so that it can benefit the beekeepers who are working hard to produce honey for our tables and ensure that our food crops are pollinated.

Andrew Barron

Macquarie University

Director of The Macquarie Minds and Intelligences Initiative at Macquarie University and Professor of Comparative Neuroscience, Andrew studies honey bee health, sociobiology and cognition. His research is currently supported by awards from the Templeton World Charity Foundation, The Australian Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council of the United Kingdom. Throughout his career, Andrew has held fellowships from The Australian Research Council, The Leverhulme Trust, The Fulbright Commission and The Royal Society of London.

Keegan Blignaut

Duxton Bees Pty Ltd

Starting his journey with bees at the age of 11, Keegan’s passion for apiculture has  seen him work across South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. He played a pivotal role in steering Duxton Bees Pty Ltd to become Australia’s largest commercial beekeeping business and oversaw exponential growth, expanding the company from 1,500 to 7,000 beehives within just 2.5 years. Driven by a desire to contribute to the resilience and growth of the Australian beekeeping industry, Keegan envisions fostering collaboration, innovation, and sustainable practices.