Asian honey bee

Asian honey beeAsian honey bee (AHB) Apis cerana Java was first detected in Cairns, Queensland, in May 2007. An eradication program commenced immediately, funded initially by the Queensland Government. The National Management Group formed to deal with the incursion (originally under the Emergency Animal Disease Response Agreement) agreed to national cost sharing of the program between 1 July 2009 and 31 March 2011.

In January 2011, following a re-evaluation of the program, the National Management Group agreed that eradication was no longer technically feasible, but that further action was warranted on a national scale to mitigate the potential impact of this pest bee.

As a result, the Australian Government invested $2 million from July 2011 to June 2013 in an Asian Honey Bee Transition to Management Program, managed by Plant Health Australia. The program was bolstered by contributions from partners, with funding contributed by Biosecurity Queensland and the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council and the Federal Council of Australian Apiarists’ Association.

The program involved a range of project specific action plans, conducted by Biosecurity Queensland. The activities engaged individuals, communities, local government, agriculture and environment agencies, production and service industries in developing knowledge, tools, strategies and actions to mitigate the social, environmental and economic impacts of the pest.

Funding provided to the program by Australian Honey Bee Industry Council was used to fund and facilitate research on developing management strategies and suppression techniques of AHB to assist the honey bee industry to manage the impacts.

The key elements of the program were:

  • a public awareness campaign
  • development and adoption of tools and strategies to control AHB
  • development of methods to suppress AHB within commercial beekeeping areas and environmentally friendly AHB suppression methods
  • optimisation of strategies to provide early detection of new incursions of AHB
  • identification of critical intervention points and processes to reduce the long distance spread of AHB through transport facilities and other risk pathways.

In 2011–12 PHA established the AHB Transition Management Group to oversee the implementation of the program as well as establishing an AHB Scientific Advisory Group of honey bee scientists and industry experts (see below) to provide technical advice on specific scientific matters.

The plan for the Transition to Management for Asian Honey bee and the project reports generated by the program are listed below.


Committees

Asian Honey Bee Transition Management Group (AHB TMG)

The Asian Honey Bee Transition Management Group (AHB TMG) consisted of senior representatives of the Australia Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (now DAWR), Queensland DAFF (now QDAF) and the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC). The AHB TMG oversaw the establishment of the program, monitored its delivery and considered any triggers arising that necessitated a review of the program. It was chaired by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources.

Asian Honey Bee Scientific Advisory Group (AHB SAG)

The Asian Honey Bee Scientific Advisory Group (AHB SAG) provided advice on technical and scientific matters to the AHB TMG on request.

Committee members

Dr Denis Anderson, CSIRO
Dr Simon Barry, CSIRO
Dr Max Whitten FCAAA, University of Queensland
Dr Boris Baer, Centre for Integrative Bee Research, University of Western Australia
Dr Doug Somerville, NSW Department of Primary Industries
Dr Glynn Maynard, Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
Dr Sharon DeWet, Queensland Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation
Mr Trevor Weatherhead, Australian Honey Bee Industry Council


Documents

 Asian honey bee awareness poster

Asian honey bee fact sheet 1 (DAFF Queensland, 2013)

Asian honey bee fact sheet 2 (DAFF Queensland, 2013)

Asian Honey Bee in Cairns, Foraging, Nesting and Swarming Behaviour (April 2007-September 2011) Report of field observations (Hyatt, 2012)

Asian Honey Bee manual (Queensland Government, 2013)

Asian honey bee remote nest treatment report (Koetz and Hyatt, 2013)

Asian honey bee remote nest treatment preliminary results (Koetz, 2012)

Asian honey bee remote nest treatment report- Progress Report (Hyatt, 2012)

Asian honey bee spread modelling (Koetz and Scanlan, 2013)

Asian honey bee Surveillance Report (January-March 2013) (Bell, 2013)

Asian honey bee Surveillance Report (April – June 2013) (Bell, 2013)

Destruction efficacy of Asian honey bees (Apis cerana) in Cairns, Australia (Wittmeier et al. 2013)

Detection efficacy of Asian honey bees (Apis cerana) in Cairns, Australia (Koetz, 2013)

Detection of Apis cerana DNA from sugar syrup (Koetz, 2013)

Ecology and behaviour of Asian honey bees (Apis cerana) in Cairns, Australia (Commerford and Koetz, 2013)

Guidelines for industry – destroying swarms or nests of Asian honey bees (DAFF Queensland, 2013)

North Queensland Apiarist Survey Report (Ross-Reid B et al. 2013)

Northern Australia Quarantine Strategy Asian honey bee floral surveillance manual (Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, 2014)

Optimising Asian honey bee (Apis cerana) trap design and attractants

Optimising Asian honey bee baitfeeding station design and attractants – Progress Report December 2012 (Koetz, 2012)

Spread of Apis cerana in Australia 2007-2012 (Koetz, 2012)

The Asian honey bee and its strains – with special focus on Apis cerana Java genotype (Koetz, 2013)

Varroa mites on Asian honey bees in the Torres Strait: Prevalence on foraging bees and rapid screening of swarms


Asian Honey Bee Transition to Management Program Documents

Plan for Transition to Management for Asian Honey Bee, November 2011

Progress Report (Gilmour, June 2012)

Progress Summary Report (Gilmour, April 2013)

Progress Summary Report (Gilmour, May 2013)

Progress Report on the Industry-funded, RIRDC-managed, Asian Honey Bee – Transition to Management projects as at 20 May 2013

Progress Summary Report (Gilmour, June 2013)

Final Report (Koetz, Foley, Commerford and Gilmour, 2013)


Meeting Minutes

Asian Honey Bee Scientific Advisory Group Meeting Minutes

Asian Honey Bee Transition Management Group Meeting Minutes