NOW_ 7PMs_BeeBreeding_25

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The NSW south coast's only queen bee breeder is using instrumental insemination to breed colonies resistant to varroa mite. It's a delicate process that only about 50 Australians are trained to do. The Australian Honeybee Industry Council is working to establish a commercially viable, national bee breeding strategy to deal with varroa mite.

Transcript

00:00Under microscopic conditions, requiring tiny tools and lots of patience, Laura Patmore

00:08is working to strengthen the genetic make up of her hives against Varroa, one queen

00:13bee at a time.

00:14So that they can help themselves, because the alternative to using those genetics is

00:20we have to use chemicals.

00:22It's similar to how livestock and pets are selectively bred.

00:26So in there she's developing.

00:28By choosing each parent, Laura is creating new generations that are increasingly tolerant

00:33of Varroa mite, a small pest responsible for the collapse of bee colonies worldwide.

00:39It arrived on Australian shores more than 18 months ago, and as of last week, is now

00:44just down the road from Laura's own apiary in Kiama on the NSW South Coast.

00:50The silver lining of that though is we have Varroa, which means I can now find the colonies

00:56that are handling it and breed from them.

00:59It's a huge task for the local mum, believed to be one of around 50 people in Australia

01:05actively practising instrumental insemination.

01:08We can have huge impacts in a very short period, something that would normally take decades.

01:14The work going on here is hoping to emulate the successful efforts of countries like New

01:19Zealand and the United States who have already bred Varroa resistant colonies.

01:24We're able to keep the Varroa mite numbers down in the apiaries, not eliminate it, but

01:29certainly help in reducing the amount of treatments that need to be implemented and reducing the

01:34impacts the mites have on those bees.

01:37So it's a great tool.

01:39The challenge now is cracking the genetic code as fast as possible.

01:43Ultimately we need these programs to be commercially viable enterprises.

01:47It's the only way we'll get the sustainability that we need in the long term.

01:51And it's hoped the knowledge gained here will end up being shared around the country.

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