Got a NO BUZZ ZONE? Can’t keep bees where you live, or know someplace that beekeepers can’t be? Send me an email, with NO BUZZ in the subject line and tell me where, with your first and last name…Bee Culture Magazine, thedailygreen.com and Haagan Daz Ice Cream want to know. Send to Kim@BeeCulture.com today!
Six Weeks As A Beekeeper, and NOW WHAT???? See our next webinar in the series. Everything you need to know is at the bottom of this message.
CATCH THE BUZZ
Apis cerana spreading in Australia
By Alan Harman
There’s a setback for Australian biosecurity after Biosecurity Queensland teams found an Asian honeybee next in the Innisfail area 55 miles south of Cairns.
The detection, 25 miles from the nearest known infestation, is well outside the Cairns and Atherton Tablelands regions and poses a new challenge to the eradication program.
Asian honeybee eradication coordinator Charlotte Greer said a resident in the Innisfail suburb of Goondi alerted Biosecurity Queensland to the nest of bees that had taken up residency in the floor under her bathroom.
After the nest was confirmed as Asian honeybees, 24 field staff immediately converged on Innisfail to destroy the nest and start surveillance activities.
“It’s really important we determine how they have traveled 40 km (25 miles) Greer says.
“Our teams are out there right now looking for more nests in the area. Intensive sweep netting activities are being carried out in a grid pattern around the detection site. We believe this particular nest was about a month old and that it had not swarmed.”
The nest is the 84th infestation found since the first Asian honeybee detection in Cairns in May 2007.
Biosecurity Queensland has been conducting an active eradication program in Cairns and the surrounding areas of Aloomba, Goldsborough, Mareeba and Lake Eacham since Asian honeybees were first detected.
“We have previously carried out surveillance in the Innisfail and Mourilyan areas as well and acted on reports from the public,” Greer says. “But this is the first positive identification in the Innisfail area.”
Biosecurity Queensland says community vigilance and public reporting is an essential part of the Asian honeybee eradication program and it is urging all residents to look out for any suspect bees.
Summary of effects of an Asian honey bee incursion in Australia, from Australian Honey Bee Industry Council
- Lost queen and package bee exports, worth $7.5A million/year
- Lost honey production, reduced by 80% once it becomes present, then reduced further once established in an area
- Twice as many European hives needed for pollination of any crop for the same performance
- Weaken European hives by robbing
- Can not be managed for pollination
- Aggressive
Protein feeding pays off with better bee health, better survival, better production, and better wintering. Learn More.
Subscribe to Malcolm Sanford’s Apis Newsletter right here For a comprehensive listing of beekeeping events around the country and around the globe, check out Bee Culture’s Global Beekeeping Calendar
This message brought to you by Bee Culture, The Magazine Of American Beekeeping, published by the A.I. Root Company.
BEEKEEPING WEBINAR INFORMATION
On Tuesday, June 1, 2010, there will be a FREE webinar for everybody and anybody just starting out with bees this year. This is especially geared to those who tuned in earlier this year for our Urban Beekeeper Workshop with Cindy, Cameo and and Toni.
Entitled 6 Weeks as a Beekeeper, Now What?, the discussion covers what your bees should be doing now, what issues to look for that are problems now, and anything that might come up in the near future that you can prepare for now. We’ll be evaluating your queen’s productivity, examining brood patterns and balance, along with making sure there isn’t a drone laying queen or laying workers mucking up the works. Plus, we’ll be looking at IPM programs and options for varroa and other issues. Supering? You bet, it’s time to give those bees more room, or if not, we’ll look at why not. And in some places this year, feeding is still an issue…we’ll explore that too. Some may even have a crop ready to harvest, so we’ll take a look at those issues, along with getting ready to harvest…which most of u s hope to do in just a little bit. This isn’t for Beginner’s only though, so if you just want a refresher or what to find out what the newest information is on any of these topics, come on along.
Kim Flottum, from Bee Culture magazine, and Shane Gebauer, General Manager and long time beekeeper from Brushy Mountain Bee Supply are hosting this Free Webinar. How to register is below.
Title:
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| 6 weeks as a beekeeper...Now What?
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Date:
| Tuesday, June 1, 2010
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Time:
| 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM EDT
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Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/960734619
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