Following the resignation of previous Bee Biosecurity Officer (BBO) Ally Driessen, I am pleased to announce the appointment of our new Victorian BBO Karyn Di Florio.

Karyn brings with her a wealth of departmental and general agricultural knowledge and experience, particularly from the plant biosecurity space. She has completed several secondments with the apiary team and deployments with the State Quarantine Response Team as a team leader. Most recently Karyn has filled the position of Permits Officer for the Varroa Project team for the last 12months. She lives in Melbourne where she keeps one hive.

The National Bee Biosecurity Program funds the appointment of a Bee Biosecurity Officer (BBO) in each of the state departments (QLD, NSW, VIC, TAS, SA, WA). Further information on the program can be found here National Bee Biosecurity Program – Plant Health Australia.

Nikki Jones, Biosecurity Manager Apiary

Course details are available here or under events.

See details here.

My name is Conny (Cornelia) Sattler, and I am a researcher at Macquarie University in Sydney, collaborating with Dr Theotime Colin and Prof Andrew Barron on the project "Best Practices for Evaluation of Bee Health Technology." In our project, we aim to understand the needs and expectations of the industry and the challenges in using sensor technologies in beehives. To achieve this, we are conducting an online survey to gather information from beekeepers and growers using pollination services.

I am reaching out to inquire if you could kindly share the invitation for our online survey with beekeepers who may be interested in participating. More information about the project and the online survey is available on the following website:

http://thesmarthivesurvey.com/

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing back from you.

Best regards, Conny

Dr Cornelia Sattler
Research Fellow & Videographer
School of Natural Sciences – Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia)
0493462728

Varroa Update: There have been around 50 new confirmed infected premises of Varroa since the National Management Group (NMG) decision on 19th September to transition the Varroa response to management.

Expressions of interest are now open for the position of chairperson and up to 8 members to the Apicultural Industry Advisory Committee (AIAC), for a term of up to 3 years.

How to apply by Monday 27 November 2023

If you or someone you know is suitably qualified, passionate about the apicultural industry and its future in Victoria, we invite you to submit an expression of interest application form, including your current curriculum vitae via the ‘Join a Board’ website.

A YouTube recording of the AHBIC Varroa Webinar held 19th October 2023 is available from this link.  The speaker list is shown below. 

Includes details of Varroa treatment registrations and availability together with registration for the AHBIC Industry briefing webinar on Thursday 19th Oct.

 https://honeybee.org.au/ahbic-industry-update-48-478-days-of-response/

Varroa mite Emergency Response – Transition to Management Industry Update, Thursday 19th Oct 7-8pm EST.   Register here

Here are all the details of this year's exciting program.

See you there.