CEO report 

The conference season is done and dusted with some amazing information and networking across all conferences. Congratulations to all the, predominantly volunteers, for organising these events that are so important for our industry. 

Attending the conferences I have been lucky to listen to many international speakers and varroa experts from across Australia. What has struck me is the differing methods for managing varroa and that every ‘expert’ promotes a different technique or calendar of treatments.  The takeaway for me is that whilst the varroa transition to management program of education will give beekeepers the basics, we have a lot of learning to do.  Beekeepers will need to take all the information available and distil that down into what works for them, in their business.   

Another big takeaway has been that beekeepers will inevitably experiment with the different treatment options and methodologies. The most important thing for beekeepers to do when trying new treatments is to not do it on all hives. Use a reliable, known treatment on the majority of your apiary and experiment on a small number of hives first.  This way beekeepers will be able to assess the success or otherwise of their experiment. We are starting to hear stories of beekeepers ‘experimenting’ with the whole apiary at once.  Not only do they have nothing to compare it to but when it goes wrong it takes out the whole apiary and becomes an expensive lesson. 

Varroa transition to management program 

We are starting to see onboarding of VDO’s and training happening outside of NSW.  I expect this will ramp up over the season as the agreed training events are rolled out.  There are only limited training events available before the T2M funding runs out so make sure you get in before it ends.  Register for a T2M varroa workshop by visiting the website: Varroa Management Training | Humanitix

VDO’s have been recruited in NSW, VIC and NT with SA, QLD, Tas in the final stages of recruitment.  WA will be advertising soon.  

AHBIC AGM 

The 2024 AHBIC AGM was held in Townsville with representatives from all member bodies in the room and a large number of observers. Big thank you Stephen Fewster who stepped down and welcome to Dr Cooper Schouten onto the AHBIC executive. There was some great discussion and decisions made across the day which will shape AHBIC activities over the next 12 months.  

The AHBIC annual report is available on our website and next year’s 2025 AGM is planned to coincide with the conference in South Australia, scheduled for July 2025. 

Australian Coloss Survey 

The Request for Quotation of Australian Coloss Survey, which will survey beekeepers across Australia to understand bee health and allow us to monitor and measure the impacts of varroa, is now live and open for tender. The Coloss survey will be a critical piece in the puzzle to understanding varroa in our landscapes over time. It will be exciting to see this project get off the ground. 

https://agrifutures.com.au/funding-opportunity/request-for-quote-honey-bee-pollination-industry-national-colony-loss-survey-coloss-survey-2024/ 

Boarder restrictions 

Seasonal hive movements for have begun for early almond varieties. It has already proven to be a difficult year for beekeepers wanting to participate with contract issues and boarder regulations complicating the job for many.   

We are hopeful that the regulated movement approach taken by the jurisdictions prevents any mass movement of varroa interstate. The jurisdictions have found it difficult to find a suitable approach to balance preventing spread whilst maintaining business continuity for beekeepers.  There is no one approach that will make everyone happy. 

The Month Ahead 

AHBIC has a busy month ahead with work continuing to deliver the AHBIC components of the T2M.  We have a number of meetings lined up with government to progress the many issues in our industry. We will continue to work has hard as we can with resources we have to get the best outcomes for our industry. 

 

Danny LeFeuvre

CEO