Bees that love housekeeping

Everyone likes a success story, and Lindsay Bourke has one.

He started his one man apiarist business with 200 hives in 1966. Now he runs Australian Honey Products an award-winning venture exporting to many countries, has 3600 hives, the largest number of bee hives in Tasmania, and is the largest Commercial Pollinator in Tasmania providing a service to all forms of agriculture statewide.

BUT his contribution to the industry is even greater. We have all heard of how valuable bees are to every crop and plant, and how easily they can be endangered. Now Lindsay has bred bees that clean out their brood nest at the first whiff of a pest or disease.

For this he has been named a finalist for the Plant Biosecurity Farmer of the Year Award, sponsored by Plant Health Australia. 

“Biosecurity is essential for maintaining the beekeeping and food industry now and in the future,” Lindsay says.

Bees that show hygienic behaviour against Varroa mite and American foulbrood (a pest that is already in Australia), the two biggest biosecurity threats to the industry, can be tested, selected and bred. 

It is likely that Varroa will arrive in Australia, with an estimated loss of 50-70 per cent of pollinating hives. The impact on pollination for farmers and food security will be significant, but establishing apiaries with increased hygienic behaviour in the bees will lessen the impact when that happens. 

Read more about Lindsay Bourke's honey products...

 
 

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