Recordings from the conference are now available for viewing.  There is a site page here with details or you can go straight to the VAA YouTube channel here.

Please note that recruitment is now underway for a number of Varroa Development Officers (VDO’s) to be employed in a casual capacity, and two Senior Varroa Development Officers (SVDO) to be employed in a full time fixed term capacity.

Advertisements for jobs are now live on both the Career@VicGov and SEEK websites, with a closing date for all applications of 31 March 2024.

https://www.seek.com.au/varroa-jobs

The Centre for Rural Criminology (UNE) has recently launched the Australian Farm Crime Survey, the first of its kind in nearly twenty years. Please see a link to the survey here: https://bit.ly/farmcrimeune.

We need to hear from more farmers across Australia!

Please (re)circulate the information below within your networks. Our objective is to gather representative insights from each state, allowing us to better understand farm crime across the country and develop effective solutions.

We recognise that supporting this survey means giving up some of your valuable time. To streamline this process, we've developed guidelines for sharing the survey and a selection of media materials you can use (see below). You're also welcome to adapt these resources to fit your network's requirements best. These can be downloaded from the following link: click here

Thank you for your consideration and support. We would be more than happy to discuss this survey with you and, of course, share the survey results and official report upon completion. You can reach us via email at rucrim@une.edu.au or directly at +61 2 6773 1940

Together, let's shape a safer future for our rural communities.

Warm Regards, Dr. Kyle Mulrooney and Dr. Alistair Harkness

Link to survey: https://bit.ly/farmcrimeune

Details here

'It's basically dead': AI reveals the legacy of decades of logging

An AI-based analysis of 20 years of logging by VicForests, shared exclusively with the ABC, shows for the first time, the potential scale of failed regeneration in Victoria's state forests.Read the full story

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.