Victorian Adoption of the Australian Bee Biosecurity Code of Practice: Feedback due by Sunday 17th March
The Victorian Government, through the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions, is proposing some amendments to the Livestock Disease Control Regulations 2017 to make it compatible with the Australian Honey Bee Industry Biosecurity Code of Practice.
New regulations will come into effect on the 16th April 2019.
Before this happens, “industry consultation” will occur. Individuals, groups and organisations are invited to provide feedback on the proposed changes. The closing date for this feedback was originally 5 pm on Sunday 3rd March 2019 but on 5th March it was extended to Sunday 17th March.
For detailed information about the proposed changes and to submit feedback, go to engage.vic.gov.au/australian-bee-biosecurity-code-practice
Victoria concludes precautionary surveillance for varroa mite detection
Agriculture Victoria’s varroa mite surveillance has concluded six weeks after the bee parasite was detected in cargo at the Port of Melbourne that had been unloaded from a ship.
The State Quarantine Response Team, comprising of members of the beekeeping community, worked alongside Agriculture Victoria’s Incident Management Team (IMT) to conduct bee hive surveillance following the detection.
The team conducted four rounds of surveillance in every known hive within a two-kilometre radius of the Port of Melbourne detection.
With no further detections of varroa mite, Agriculture Victoria has today stood down its IMT.
Click here for a more detailed media release.
VAA Beekeepers' AFL Tipping Competitions
VAA Beekeepers’ AFL on-line footy tipping competition has been
conducted by the VAA for the past six years. Its purpose is to encourage
camaraderie amongst beekeepers, and over the years has proved a great
tool for establishing casual conversations and non-beekeeping discussion
The competition has two parts, the Women’s competition which commences on Saturday 2nd February and the Men’s competition which commences on Thursday 21st March.
Entry to both competitions is free. There are no monetary prizes, just the reward of bragging about how well you can tip.
Previous years’ tipsters are automatically invited to join this year’s competitions. New tipsters need to join Footy Tips at www.footytips.com.au, then join the VAA competitions at www.footytips.com.au/comps/Beekeepers The password for the VAA competitions is apismellifera (all one word). Please direct any enquiries about the competitions to Barry Cooper at firstname.lastname@example.org