Newsletter of the Beekeepers Association of the ACT Incorporated

Meetings of the Beekeepers Association of the ACT Inc are held on the second Wednesday of the month at 7.30 pm at the CIT, Heysen Street, Weston in Building A

December 1999

New Members

Welcome to new members Christine, Heikki and Jonathon Malmberg of Wanniassa.

December Meeting

There will be a Christmas get together at Dick Johnston’s place (Bindaree Bee Supplies, 16 James St. Curtin) on Wednesday 8^th from 6.30 to 8.30 pm. Dick will provide snacks; please bring your own drinks.

Library

We want to make the Association’s library more accessible to members. It is currently stored at Herb Waldie’s place. We plan to catalogue it and circulate a list of titles and authors in a future newsletter. So please return any outstanding borrowed books as soon as possible so that the list will be complete. You will be able to borrow books by arrangement with Herb, but in addition he has offered to bring a box of them to each meeting, any borrowed books to be returned by the next meeting. If you would like to borrow a book or browse over the Christmas period, please contact Herb (62813658).

Bee Diseases Steering Committee

The Bee Diseases Steering Committee is a sub- committee of the Beekeeping Industry Consultative Committee, the industry body in NSW. Following the meeting of the BDSC held on 22 October, a report has been produced for presentation to the BICC for their consideration early next year. The report sets out objectives and recommendations for addressing bee diseases in NSW. Although the type of beekeeping and regulatory controls are different between NSW and the ACT, one would hope that the approach to disease control by both beekeepers and regulatory bodies will be consistent regardless of state borders. If you would like further information or a copy of the report, contact Derek Butler on 62865377.

Our Man in Scotland

Robert and Margaret Gardiner have been touring the British Isles and picking up lots of information and ideas. Robert hopes to have an opportunity to give us a presentation next year about his experiences. Some of the particular issues are honey judging (perhaps the Association might have a friendly contest next year?), record keeping, breeding programs, insect control programs, disease control and pollen studies. After accompanying a bee inspector doing varroa checks Robert comments ? Scots bees sting about as hard as Aussie bees under the same provocation. Only got me once though?!

November Meeting

In a very interesting talk about bee pathology, Dr Denis Anderson of CSIRO Entomology first gave us an overview of bee diseases and their relative economic importance. He considers that the bacterial diseases AFB and EFB are not a serious problem; AFB occurrence across Australia is only 1% and can be combatted by good hive management, and EFB is not becoming resistant to the antibiotic OTC and so can be controlled. Of the three viral diseases – sacbrood, chronic paralysis and nosema – the latter is the most serious. Not much work has been done on it, and there is at present no remedy except dryness and air circulation. Sacbrood virus is more dangerous in the presence of the varroa mite (see below), which activates it so that it can move from one caste to another. The fungal disease chalkbrood has only been here since 1993 and is not a serious problem.

Denis told us that the major economic problem in bee pathology is the poor condition of commercially supplied queen bees. This is borne out by the fact that 38% of a random sample of queen bees were immediately superseded. The first five days after hatching are critical for the quality of the queen, so that the hive has to be in optimal condition with enough nurse bees.

To complete the overview Denis mentioned three other (at present) minor bee problems. The "mystery muck" disease which occurs from Taree up to the north coast of Queensland is thought to be caused by aluminium or one of the heavy metals. European wasps are increasing in Australia, but there is hope for control via a specific nosema. Finally, pollen mites can be a nuisance.

Denis saved the main part of his talk for the varroa mite, which is the major world problem. Australia and New Zealand are the only countries without it, and it may be only a matter of time before we have it. The mite’s host was originally the Asian hive bee, Apis cerana , from which it "jumped" to the honey bee, A. mellifera, 50-60 years ago.

Denis described his exciting recent research into varroa. Before he began his work all varroa on hive bees had been classified as Varroa jacobsoni. He noticed that the mite on European honey bees is slightly but significantly different in size and shape from the one on Asian hive bees, and wondered whether they are separate species. He studied the variation in sequence of a particular mitochondrial gene among 18 strains of Varroa jacobsoni on Apis cerana. Amazingly, this test can be done on DNA from a single mite! He found that these varroa fell into two main groups, one from mainland Asia and one from Indonesia, plus three small groups from the Philippines. The varroa that infects Apis mellifera worldwide (except Indonesia-Malaysia) belongs to the mainland Asian type, and Denis has convincing evidence that this is a separate, undescribed species. It is particularly dangerous because it reproduces on both worker and drone brood, unlike V. jacobsoni, which reproduces on Apis cerana drone brood only.

How did the mite "jump" from A. cerana to A. mellifera? It is believed that Russian beekeepers may have unwittingly brought this about by transferring hives between eastern Russia and european Russia.

The control of varroa is a difficult problem. Most of the current research effort is going into chemical methods. However, Denis believes that it will be more productive to identify the "signals" (hormone levels are one of many possibilities) that enable the mite to recognise the bee as a host, so that bee strains can be selected that are not recognised and therefore not attacked. However,there is still scope for conventional breeding for resistance. Perhaps resistance, or tolerance, is most likely to be found in A mellifera strains which have had the longest contact with the mite – those of eastern Asia.

NSW Apiarists Association, BEEKEEPING FIELD DAY

SATURDAY 18^th MARCH, 2000 COLLECTOR

Venue: Collector Hall, 20mins south ofGoulburn

40 mins north of Canberra on the Federal Highway.

Time: 10.00am – 3.00pm

SUBJECTS:

Honeybee nutrition

Pollination

Exotic bee pests and parasites

Good beekeeping practice – maximise profits/enjoyment

Quality assurance

Honey extracting facilities and food safety program

Various other topics yet to be finalised

Bring your second-hand material for sale.

Beekeeping supplies and various trade exhibits

SPEAKERS

Honey Packers, NSW Agriculture, Commercial Beekeepers, trade exhibitors

Entry fee: $2 per person/children free/NSW Apiarists Association Members free

For further information contact:

Jim Picker, President, (02) 6288 9193, m 041 7278 819

Bill Stratton, Secretary, (02) 4421 4198

Doug Somerville, NSW Agriculture, (02) 4823 0616

 

Bindaree Beenotes: Bindaree Bee Supplies wishes all its customers

a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Bindaree will be closed on Xmas day and New Years Day

 

 

 

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