4feature 16 <strong>Northern</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yorke</strong> <strong>Natural</strong> <strong>Resources</strong> Management Board
4feature Plan bee Bill Nicholas reports on plans to resist a tiny killer. Broadacre <strong>and</strong> horticulture crop yields are expected to take a substantial blow if a global bee disease that devastates beehive populations makes its way into Australia. <strong>Yorke</strong> Peninsula agri consultant, Bill Long, who has just returned from a Churchill fellowship tour of the US, Europe <strong>and</strong> the UK says despite our best quarantine ef<strong>for</strong>ts it was inevitable that varroa mite would establish itself in Australia. His tour involved studying the effects of the mite on bee populations <strong>and</strong> the impact on crops dependent on the pollinating species. Varroa mites are insects the size of a pinhead that attack bees making them susceptible to other diseases. Bee populations globally have been decimated by the varroa mite. The US devastation of beehives has led to the situation where Cali<strong>for</strong>nian almond growers have had to contract half of the US beekeeping industry to move to their almond orchards <strong>for</strong> a month during flowering to make sure the almond crop is fertilised to produce the high value crop. In the UK, the devastating bee mite has wiped out beehives <strong>and</strong> now the <strong>country</strong> has a governmentsupported <strong>and</strong> retail industry sponsored campaign to beef up the numbers of feral bumble bees to take over the fertilising work previously done by beehives of working bees. Bill Long said pollination was a factor limiting crop yields in Australia because there were insufficient managed, feral <strong>and</strong> native pollinators – <strong>and</strong> the varroa mite could potentially further reduce these numbers. He said his experiences had shown him that the Australian industry must be prepared to minimise the effects of the mite if it “arrived” in the <strong>country</strong>. “The challenge <strong>for</strong> Australian beekeepers <strong>and</strong> the industry is to develop a plan <strong>for</strong> when the varroa mite enters Australia, <strong>and</strong> be very clear on what that reaction <strong>and</strong> response will be,” Mr Long said. “It affects a hive’s strength by sucking blood from adults <strong>and</strong> the emerging bee brood. The hive is eventually overrun by the mite, but it’s not the varroa mite that kills the bees but the viral diseases that develop because the hive is weakened.” Mr Long said Australia needed to learn from the mistakes of the US, <strong>and</strong> be fully prepared <strong>for</strong> the insect. His Fellowship objective was to investigate profitable large scale pollination services which have developed since the varroa mite emerged. Since his paper ‘Building large scale pollination <strong>and</strong> preparedness to manage disease <strong>and</strong> varroa mite’ was published, Mr Long has attracted serious attention from top levels of agribusiness. He has discussed the development of an Australian pilot of Operation Pollinator with Syngenta, which financed Mike Edwards on a UK trip in September to conduct field studies <strong>and</strong> meet with key ecologists <strong>and</strong> farmer groups. The <strong>Northern</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yorke</strong> NRM Board has committed $35,000 towards this project, <strong>and</strong> a scoping study on Operation Pollinator is proceeding with Department of Agriculture, Fisheries <strong>and</strong> Forestry’s representatives at Kadina <strong>and</strong> Crystal Brook. Support is being sought from State Minister <strong>for</strong> Environment <strong>and</strong> Conservation Paul Caica <strong>and</strong> Shadow Minister Adrian Pederick MP, the member <strong>for</strong> Wakefield, Steven Griffith, the <strong>Yorke</strong> Peninsula Alkaline Soils Group <strong>and</strong> the Rural Industries <strong>and</strong> Development Corporation to fund a scoping study <strong>for</strong> a proposed Pollination <strong>and</strong> Honeybee Research CRC. Mr Long said his local project to counter bee devastation would be based on the success of Operation Bumblebee in the UK, where bee populations were increased by up to 600 per cent <strong>and</strong> other insects were increased tenfold. Syngenta was sponsoring Operation Pollinator, a five year program to provide habitat <strong>and</strong> food sources <strong>for</strong> pollinating insects across Europe. The project aimed to boost numbers of pollinating insects in order to protect biodiversity <strong>and</strong> improve crop yields <strong>and</strong> crop quality. The project is currently being run in the UK, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Portugal <strong>and</strong> the USA. The project uses scientific research findings to develop site specific ways of creating habitats alongside the working farm environment. “There is an urgent need to prepare <strong>for</strong> the arrival of varroa mite <strong>and</strong> to identify alternative pollinating species that exist in our environment,” Mr Long said. “An examination of habitat that will enhance the existence of both native <strong>and</strong> feral populations of pollinating species is required. “Together, policy makers need to link with the scientific, agricultural, apicultural <strong>and</strong> ecological communities to continue to develop <strong>and</strong> enhance programs that will ensure continued <strong>and</strong> improved pollination services to agricultural <strong>and</strong> ecosystems across Australia.” Top right: <strong>Yorke</strong> Peninsula agri consultant Bill Long. Right: Operation Bumble Bee was launched on a property in Ox<strong>for</strong>dshire in United Kingdom (pictured). It is working towards a better distribution of flowering clovers to halt the decline of bumble bees. Photo: Michael Richards Left: Bee populations globally have been decimated by the varroa mite. Photo: Rowan Edwards <strong>Northern</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yorke</strong> <strong>Natural</strong> <strong>Resources</strong> Management Board 17