There are many biosecurity threats to the Australian honey bee and pollination industries, such as Tracheal mite and Varroa mite. There has been a significant amount of media coverage recently about the close proximity to Australia of Varroa mites in New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
The Australian Honey Bee Industry Council, along with the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Plant Health Australia, are working to prepare honey bee and pollination industries for an incursion of Varroa. The preparation involves the gathering together of information that will assist in mounting an efficient response to an incursion of any bee pest or disease.
It is important we have accurate information about the movements of hives and the numbers of hives in different areas at different times if we are going to be able to contain and control bee pest and disease outbreaks. This information is held by individual beekeepers but there is a need to gather and collate it so it can be used by those responsible for planning an incursion response.
This census is part of a project to collect this information and is funded by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. The data will be used for the benefit of the honey bee industry and will assist planning for outbreaks of pests and diseases of honey bees and for mitigating their effects on the honey bee and pollination industries. The attached census seeks the essential data you can provide that is not available from any other source.
State and Territory Governments have kindly agreed to post out this census form and thus protect the privacy of beekeepers. The census does not ask for personal or business identification, as we appreciate the need to keep your business's commercial-in-confidence and personal information private.
Please complete the attached census and return in the envelope provided by Friday 4 December 2009.