Braemar College students learn about Honeybee Biosecurity

For their short term science project, a small group of year 8 students chose the topic of honeybee biosecurity in Australia, particularly with respect to the varroa mite. All around the world, the combination of varroa mite and other factors have lead to Colony Collapse Disorder and raised concern about the huge impact to agriculture should honeybee numbers continue to decline. Australia is one of the very few places left that is varroa free and government agencies and professional and amateur beekeepers are doing their best to keep this parasite from taking hold here. The sessions were led by members of the Woodend Bee-Friendly Society with David Gormley-O’Brien (MRSG President) introducing the topic of varroa and the European honeybee, Ron Glanville (former Chief Veterinary Officer and Chief Biosecurity Officer of Queensland) discussing the biosecurity measures taken at Australian ports of call and how suspected outbreaks are treated, and Nikki Barker, Emma Collins, and Matthew Croatto (all from the WBFS leadership team) led the students in a live hive inspection and had them conduct a sugar shake test for detecting varroa mites. A big thank you to the WBFS action group and Braemar’s Leanne Little for making this possible.