CEO Report February 2025

It is so disheartening to hear all the stories from across the country of low honey production this season. Despite some pockets of NSW and QLD finding some honey the majority of the country is producing well below average yields. Rising cost of operating and low honey prices is making it tough for everyone.

Over the last month the team at AHBIC have been working across a few important industry matters; in the Varroa Transition to Management Program, had several meetings with Federal DAFF and the APVMA, and worked with some of our member bodies to assist in lobbying government at local levels.

Coloss Survey

The Coloss survey is now live, and it is important that ALL beekeepers participate whether you have varroa or not. The purpose of the survey is to gather hive health baseline information, importantly in the absence of varroa, to better map and understand the potential impacts. https://www.coloss.au/ With  time running out, we are urging commercial beekeepers to partake in the survey before it closes for 2024 on 10th March.

Deformed Wing Virus – A: Detection

As we have communicated there has been a detection of DWV-A in an historical sample of Red Dwarf Honey Bees from WA. This detection has occurred when WA DPIRD retested some historical subsamples with a slightly varied assay that detected very low levels of virus. The refined positive sample was also tested by CSIRO using the national standard assay which also showed a positive result and very low levels.

Talking to many experts in this space we are comfortable that there is no reason to doubt the validity of the current assay. It is likely that the original colony had very low virus levels and sampling is why it tested negative in the first round of testing then positive on a new subsample of bees from the same colony.

Subcommittee Activities

The Levies Subcommittee has been active in meeting monthly to review the current levies and make some recommendations to improve the equity in the system. The committee will continue to meet monthly to work through the information to inform any recommendations.

The imported honey subcommittee has continued to source honey from the shelves to test. Active communications are ongoing with DAFF to progress a review of current testing protocols.

The congress organising committee also has been meeting monthly with the dates, venue and theme for the 2026 congress locked in. The committee has also started developing the program and a sponsorship prospectus will be available in the coming months.

Meetings/events

I attended the inaugural meeting for the steering committee of the National Pollination Strategy meeting in Melbourne. This full day strategy workshop started to map out the big 5-year project that is being lead by the Wheen Bee Foundation. This exciting project be very important for our industry into the future.

I also attended Evoke Ag where I was able to connect with a number of exciting innovations and startups for the honeybee industry. This massive event attracted over 2,000 delegates from around the globe with thought provoking presentations and an exhibition hall bigger than any I have seen.

US colony losses

Reports out of the US of disturbing colony losses over their winter has attracted the attention of many in our industry. Whilst information is not clear as to the cause, the losses are huge. A survey of beekeepers coming out of winter has documented average losses of 62% across large commercial apiaries. Through conversations with US counterparts, it is thought that that almond pollination could be short nearly 350,000 colonies.

There is no pattern or correlation emerging yet, as the losses are broad across the US and not in a specific climatic or geographical region. We will be watching closely as this unfolds to understand if there are any learnings for us here in Australia to be gained.

The Month Ahead

The AHBIC board will be meeting face to face in Canberra on the 6th and 7th March. As part of this meeting, we will be holding a number of board member workshops to work through the final version of AHBIC strategic plan, workshop our preparedness for Tropilaelaps mites and review our AHBIC communications.

This week I will be attending Bery Quest 2025 to present on lessons learnt from the varroa response and network with berry growers from around the country.

 

Danny LeFeuvre

CEO