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NEW ZEALAND BEEKEEPER, JULY 2017
Simon Williams of the University of the Sunshine Coast talking about his Leptospermum research.
International Congress in 2018, and the value of attending conferences At the conference it was announced that planning for next year’s International Congress on the Gold Coast (27–30 June 2018) was well under way with six of the eight overseas speakers confirmed. The Congress will be held at Surfers Paradise and will include bus trips. We attended the Congress in 1988 and learnt heaps. Some look at conferences as a bit of a waste of time but it only takes one tip and the whole thing is paid for over the following years. In 1988 we learned from Prof Jerzy Woyke (Poland) what causes most of the queen supersedures; i.e., bees damaging the caged queen’s tarsal pads, and how to prevent this when using plastic introduction cages. All that is required is to put a bit of tape around the cage to create a refuge for the queen.
You may pick up a similar gem from Randy Oliver or another beekeeper at this year’s Apiculture New Zealand National Conference, but you won’t if you’re not there. NSWAA North Coast branch field day On Saturday, 20 May, the local North Coast branch held a field day at Alstonville Showground. It was great to see a large number of companies present, including two of our suppliers. While this was going on, some of the scientists and DPI staff were giving presentations. We have been going to NSWAA conferences for 13 years. At this year’s field day we caught up with John Bowland of JBee Manufacturing Pty Ltd. John (and Peter Cash from Beequip, Perth) were awarded placards a few years ago in recognition of them modernising the extraction plants in Australia. JBee Manufacturing Pty Ltd produced the smaller units and Peter produced the uncappers and
they in competition with each other? Better pollination would have the effect of increasing production by A$1 billion GVP (Gross Value of Production), plus 2000 jobs. Productivity and profitability of Australian active Leptospermum honey: Australia has 80 species and some are equal to (if not better than) Leptospermum scoparium. Research has found that the activity of Leptospermum in Australia is stable for seven years. Fifteen companies in Western Australia are putting millions of dollars into honey bee pollination to assessing what pollination is worth. Leptospermum honey is taking off in Western Australia. RIRDC is contracting a three-year Leptospermum breeding programme to ManukaLife, with some from species coming from New Zealand. One beekeeper commented, “There’s more money in Leptospermum than in farming on some lands”.
John Bowland beside his new 24-frame extractor.
Leptospermum in Victoria.
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