Hive Inspection and Honeybee Biosecurity Workshop

Wednesday was a magnificent day (sunny and 26C) for the first hands on Hive Inspection workshop for half of the Friars Hivers Beekeeping Club members. The hive inspection included wearing the bee suits correctly, opening the hive and pulling out the frames to check on the bee colony health, food production, wax production, brood population, pests and disease. It is great to report the Whitefriars bee colony is healthy, making plenty of food and producing new brood (eggs). A few black beetle pests were observed.

The other half of the Friars Hivers Beekeeping Club participated in the online Honeybee Biosecurity workshop. Australian Honeybee and pollination industry contributes $100 to $1,730 million dollars to the Australian economy. The workshop included understanding the importance of Honeybee Biosecurity, the types of pests and diseases that exist in Australia; the threat of the Varroa mite that is decimating Honeybee productions worldwide, prevention, methods of detection and Biosecurity Code of Practice that all beekeepers and members need to adhere to.

Jo Menzies
Sustainability and Environment Team Facilitator