"From: Mike S
Just read in another bee discussion list that varroa have been discovered in
Australia. Any truth to that?
Mike in LA"
Not according to Plant Health Australia publication and a letter we received
this week from the State Government Biosecurity Officer, for national
distribution to all registered apiarists in Australia, but that might not
mean every Australian beekeeper will be alerted as intended. It is a 60
foolscap page, well illustrated if over-written guide about biosecurity, and
the need for all Aussie beeks to be alert, and do something about dangerous
pests.
It is titled 'Biosecurity Manual for the Honey Bee Industry. Version 1.0'
ISBN: 978-0-9872309-2-8. An electronic copy can be downloaded at
www,phau.com.au.
The manual sets out to show beekeepers 6 easy ways to protect the honey bee
from present and impending exotic pest invasions; from developing a sound
knowledge base to identify apiary insects and rate their danger, to
cleanliness reminders, to maintaining records of observations and disease
monitoring activities undertaken. It rounds off with legislative
requirements, and gives an Exotic Plant Pest Hotline of 1800 084 881 for
beekeepers to report "anything unusual".
It is easy to mis-read and confuse pages 6 and 7 which identify 3 exotics
banging on our doors to get in, as well as 3 dangerous exotics already known
to be in Oz. We're a BIG country.
In essence, we beekeepers in Australia are to be on the look-out for:
VARROA mites (DESTRUCTOR and V. jacobsen),
Tracheal Mite (Acarapis wood), and the
Tropilaelaps mite (Tropilaelaps clareae & T. mercedesae),
The phrase "should they be introduced" might have been missed, on page 6,
by scanning readers, or non-readers. In other words, these pests are not
formally known to exist ion Oz at time of publication, though it's no longer
an if, but when.
Page 7 lists the "priority established pests" as being:
American Foulbrood (paenibacillus larvae),
Asian Honey Bee (Apis cerana Java genotype),
Black queen cell virus (...Cripavirus (BQCV)).
Whilst the writing style maintains its bureaucratise, it uses large photos
mainly in focus, to illustrate, both the impending threats and the
established, dangerous exotics. For the photos alone, this is an essential
publication for the Australian beekeeping community to self-educate. There
is a big push by our Federal government, to smarten up the workforce in
general, with particularity devolved to beekeepers, who are being required
to attend or complete online, formal training in apiary theory and
application, in order to acquire certain trading rights. This is not a bad
thing, but it represents a major change of mindset for many "myway"
beekeepers. Comprehension of the text might lead to confusion, and have
already been misreported online, and the text might benefit from devolving
to a more agricultural lingo, and/or using dot-points. The quirky page
numbering system needs to be conventionalised.
This publication makes fine pre-reading for anyone wishing to formalise
their apiary knowledge and hands-on skills. Formal qualifications are in
lock-step with biosecurity subjects, and safe food handling and quality
assurance are the buzz terms for apiarists.
Ones hopes the editors take note of any mis-understanding the readers may
have about what's here already, and what's not here yet, and that we'll see
Version 1.1 one day, but in the meantime, I urge all Australian beekeepers
to read this publication, and to read pages 6 and 7 very carefully.
LIDA
BBC Apiary
Kangaroo Island
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