Honeybee R&D News October 2010 Issue 7
Book
Hygienic Behaviour of Stocks of the Western Australian Honeybee Breeding Program
Honeybee R&D News Issue 3 August 2009
Event
Webinar: AgriFutures Honey Bee & Pollination RD&E Plan 2026-2030
Join us for a webinar on the Honey Bee & Pollination Program Research, Development & Extension (RD&E) Plan 2026-2030. This session will showcase key elements of the RD&E Plan and provide an opportunity for stakeholders to ask questions and help shape the final direction of the Plan.
Book
Development of Two Markers for Hygienic Behaviour of Honeybees
Nosema Disease in Honeybees-genetic variation and control
News story
Beating the heat: Hive Haven V10’s breakthrough in sustainable native beekeeping
... honeybees complement each other in pollinating native flowering plants and certain food crops, underscoring the importance of both species to agriculture and biodiversity.“Previously, people questioned the value of native bees due to their lower honey production. Now, the focus is shifting...
Compatibility of management objectives on public lands with beekeeping
...custr13_HBE PRJ-009102 Mia Lorber-Hughes 02 6923 6911 Paul Dellow Dellow, Paul GHD Pty Ltd The project will evaluate which types of public lands have management objectives compatible with access by managed European honeybees and those that do not have such objectives. The different public land...
Book
AgriFutures Honey Bee & Pollination Program 2024 RD&E Snapshot
Welcome to the AgriFutures Honey Bee & Pollination Program 2024 Research, Development and Extension Snapshot.
From a single-shot vaccine to conquer American and European foulbrood to a comparative list of the factors that make Australian honey so unique, this RD&E Snapshot showcases the innovative research underway to support the productivity, profitability and sustainability of the Australian honey bee and pollination industry.
While the suite of articles provides an informative overview of how this research will deliver real outcomes for beekeepers and the wider industry, it is only one of the many communications platforms available to help us spread the word.
As American psychologist and writer Anne Roe said, “Nothing in science has any value to society if it is not communicated.” That is exactly what we’re aiming to achieve at AgriFutures Australia – the real value from our investments in research for the honey bee and pollination industry will be realised when it is placed in the hands of beekeepers with the steps to apply the results in a practical and meaningful way.
– Amanda Olthof, Senior Manager, AgriFutures Honey Bee & Pollination Program
Development of the Honey Bee & Pollination Program 2024 RD&E Snapshot
Webinar
Webinar: Consultation for amendments to the Honey Bee & Pollination RD&E Plan
The mid-term review of the AgriFutures Honey Bee & Pollination RD&E Plan 2020-2025 has highlighted the need for significant amendments.
Report
AgriFutures Honey Bee & Pollination Program 2023 RD&E Snapshot
The AgriFutures Honey Bee & Pollination Program 2023 RD&E Snapshot documents the important research, development and extension projects completed and underway for the benefit of Australia's honey bee and pollination industries.
Propolis Production: A Potential Boon for the Australian Beekeeping Industry
...Australian beekeepers could earn an extra $1,400 a year by incorporating propolis production into their annual honey harvest, according to a new report commissioned by AgriFutures Australia.Propolis is a resinous mixture that honeybees produce from saliva, beeswax and the exude of tree buds, sap...
Report
Resilient beekeeping in the face of varroa
The Australian honey bee and pollination industry is vibrant, with 1,800 highly skilled commercial beekeepers and 28,000 recreational beekeepers. The industry extracts 37,000 tonnes of honey each year from 530,000 commercially managed hives.
Many of these hives are used to pollinate 35 agricultural crops partially or fully reliant on European honey bees for pollination. In 2019, the almond industry, Australia’s largest user of paid pollination services, utilised 180,000 hives for crop pollination. This number is expected to expand significantly over the next 5-10 years.
The industry is not without its challenges, however, and arguably the biggest has been the incursion of Varroa destructor, which reached Australia’s shores in June 2022. In September 2023, eradication of the varroa mite was no longer considered feasible based on technical grounds, following advice from the Consultative Committee on Emergency Plant Pests (CCEPP). As such, Australia has entered a transition to management phase.
To support the industry through this phase, AgriFutures Australia has invested in research to understand what we know and don’t know about varroa, and how it may react under Australian conditions. The project involved a literature review, a survey and interviews with experts to develop a proposed national strategy for the management of varroa and to identify knowledge gaps and the research required to help beekeepers live with varroa.
The interviews and survey results revealed a clear theme that if Australia is to manage varroa effectively and maintain a resilient beekeeping industry, we must learn from the experiences of beekeepers and researchers around the world and devise a united national strategy based on integrated pest management (IPM) best practices to protect Australian bees. The management strategy developed as part of this project consist of two major phases: (1) mitigate the immediate impact of varroa on Australian beekeeping and honey bee pollination-reliant industries; and (2) develop best practice standards that set realistic and sustainable targets for living with varroa long term based on IPM principles.
The culmination of the literature review, survey and expert interviews identified five major areas of concern that early efforts to control varroa must focus on: biosecurity; treatment and management; breeding; bee health; and pollination continuation. The research and knowledge gaps were divided into four groups: research that should commence as soon as possible; research that should commence as soon as possible and that other research will rely upon; research that cannot be done until work under the previous two categories is underway/completed; and research that requires work under the other three groups to be underway/complete, or that cannot be done without varroa.
This report provides the industry with a long-term vision and a solid basis for the transition to management. The report articulates what we know about how the industry may be able to live with varroa, and the findings will be extended via a range of communication activities and fact sheets.
AgriFutures Honey Bee & Pollination Program 2022 RD&E Snapshot
Message from Annelies McGaw, Manager, Research of the AgriFutures Honey Bee & Pollination Program
As we approach midway point of the five-year AgriFutures Honey Bee & Pollination Program Strategic RD&E Plan (2020-2025), which guides the investment of our R&D levy allocation, it is thrilling to witness the scope and diversity of the projects it is enabling.
The Plan outlines six key objectives and each of our RD&E investments must address one or more of these objectives. It is reassuring, looking across the breadth of R&D activities covered in this Snapshot, to see such a comprehensive investment addressing the key issues Australia’s beekeepers face on a daily basis.
Identifying and developing new technologies to improve hive performance is one of the key objectives of the Strategic RD&E Plan. Several projects are looking to technology to solve a range of industry challenges. The recent completion of one of our Industry Development Grant projects, undertaken by Associate Professor Alan Dorin from Monash University, resulted in the development of multi-point monitoring technology, which could improve pollination outcomes and increase crop yields and product quality. This impressive monitoring system offers an invaluable insight into the natural tendencies and preferences of honey bees in undercover cropping situations, and has attracted the attention of some of Australia’s largest berry producers.
During the past 12 months, we have invested in several new projects that seek to improve the productivity of our bees and the health of our hives – another key objective of the current Strategic RD&E Plan. Projects such as ‘Setting honey bee nutrition minimum requirements and toxicity for Australian bee stock’ will ultimately lead to a healthier and more productive honey bee and pollination industry.
Similarly, we remain vigilant about pest incursions and reducing the incidence and impact of pests and diseases. Exciting progress has been made towards a cost-effective, user-friendly and robust portable device that could provide rapid and accurate American foulbrood (AFB) test results in the field. We continue to invest in research to better understand the complex relationship between Australia’s unique native flora and the honey bee, not only in terms of the health and productivity of our bees, but also the medicinal properties of a range of hive products, including honey, pollen and propolis. Building on knowledge gained from overseas studies, an exciting new project is assessing the neuroprotective compositions of the eastern Australian monofloral honey.
Our Industry Development Grants continue to be a fulfilling and flexible initiative within the Program. These grants allow us to respond quickly to a diverse range of industry needs and build the leadership, skills and knowledge needed to assure the ongoing resilience of the honey bee and pollination industries in Australia. As you read about the new grant recipients we have funded this year, I am sure you will be as excited as I am about the potential these projects offer the industry.
In this year’s Snapshot, we are again excited to showcase important work being done alongside the AgriFutures Honey Bee & Pollination Program, such as the Honey Bee Genetic Improvement Program (Plan Bee). The program has recently produced a ‘Getting started with genetic selection’ guide to complement the ‘Plan Bee Breeding Manual’. And in October 2021, the AgriFutures National Rural Issues Program released a report on biosecurity sensing technologies for select small and emerging industries. The report identified the key technologies that have the potential to protect Australia’s honey bee and pollination industry from biosecurity threats.
Currently, Australian native bee honey production has an estimated industry value of less than $1 million. By 2030, however, this value is expected to increase to $3-5 million, with native bee honey retailing for $200-450 per kilogram. We share a high-level overview of the Australian Native Bee Strategic RD&E Plan (2022-2027) and take a look at a project that investigated the bioactive content of Australian stingless bee honey.
Finally, it is a pleasure to welcome Professor Ben Oldroyd onto our Advisory Panel this year. His leadership and guidance as Chair will be much appreciated as we enter the final years of the current Strategic RD&E Plan. Ben’s wealth of experience from both a practical beekeeping perspective and his years of research into honey bee genetics offer an invaluable opportunity the Program is fortunate to be able to harness.
Our focus is to ensure we deliver for commercial beekeepers. We prioritise and make recommendations for RD&E investment that will benefit the industry and ensure it is positioned strongly for growth and prosperity. The combination of adaptable beekeepers and innovative research means the future looks bright for Australia’s honey bee and pollination industry.
Project snapshot document for the Honey Bee and Pollination and Thoroughbred Horses Programs
AgriFutures Honey Bee & Pollination Program 2021 RD&E Snapshot
The AgriFutures Honey Bee & Pollination Program supports research, development and extension (RD&E) to ensure a productive, sustainable and profitable Australian beekeeping industry and secure the pollination of Australia’s horticultural and agricultural crops.This document provides an overview of the Honey Bee & Pollination Program and the RD&E investments that will play a critical in ensuring a productive, sustainable and profitable industry.
The Honey Bee & Pollination Advisory Panel farewells highly regarded colleagues
In 2020/21 the AgriFutures Honey Bee & Pollination Advisory Panel farewelled Dr Doug Somerville, Danny Le Feuvre and Tiffane Bates. Doug, Danny and Tiffane all served on the Advisory Panel at a pivotal time for the Program and the industry. While their reasons for retiring differ, the sentiment is the same; they are sad to be leaving a group of people who are committed to the industry they represent.
Book
Honeybee Pesticide Poisoning - A risk management tool for Australian farmers and beekeepers
AgriFutures™ Honey Bee and Pollination Program to showcase golden research at 3rd Australian Bee Congress
AgriFutures Australia is a proud Gold Partner of the 3rd Australian Bee Congress which is reconvening for the first time in three decades from 27-30 June 2018.
