Bee Scientifics

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Science Based Education

We love science and you will too! Our science based approach helps de-mystify the art of beekeeping.

Bee Feed

Sometimes nature can't feed your bees and it is up to you to step in and help them out. Bee Build works a charm.

Bees eating Feed EZ pollen patty

It’s pretty simple really-bees pollinate about a third of all the food we eat so we give back a third of our honey money to pollinators by funding pollinator gardens, food education, or environmental science for children. Every pot of One in Three Honey is produced by hard working research bee hives within 30 kms of Bendigo, it’s pretty special and very local!

Upcoming Beekeeping Courses, Workshops, and Seminars

Beekeeping Course: Bee Science Baby is a science based beekeeping course for new beekeepers and those with some experience who really want to understand what the heck is going on!  
 
Breeding for Varroa Resistance: Lessons Learned from Overseas and Scope for Our Future. Come hear about what bees and people are achieving around the world to combat Varroa naturally- through genetics! 
 
Queen and Drone Seminar: Love Thy Brother is a seminar where we detail the magic and mystery of drones and give you a reason and a desire to take care of your boys.  These boys hold the key to true genetic improvement and will prove essential when battling Varroa. 
 
Introducing the next big thing: Nexus-The New Millennium Bee Breeding Project. What is this??? Something exciting to be sure. Just planting a teaser. Stay tuned.
 
Queen Rearing Course: Lessons in Total Satisfaction and Complete Disillusionment. So its basically beekeeping- we just teach you the science, theory, and practice of honey bee reproduction.  Held each spring in Victoria.

Apiculture in Action

Bee Scientifics specialises in science based honey bee breeding, education and training. We conduct research on honey bee health,  maintain a breeding program, and offer classes, workshops and field days for beekeepers.

Our goal is to provide long-term solutions to honey bee health threats through conducting and translating research into best management practices.

Research

VESKI and Australian French Association for Science and Technology Fellowship

Thank you to the Victorian State government, Veski and AFAS for the honour of being nominated as one of six life science fellows in 2020.  The project is a perfect springboard from the ISSI fellowship continuing to investigate Varroa resistance selection techniques.  This time, travels will be to The Netherlands to work with the Arista Bee Foundation and Bejo Seeds and then to France to work with the National French Institute of Agriculture and the Environment (INRAE).

The fellowship will not only focus on breeding for Varroa resistance, but on traits associated with pollination efficacy paving the way for the incorporation of new selection techniques and importation of genetics into Australia.

International Specialised Skills Institute Agribusiness Fellowship Report

Thank you to the team at the ISSI and the Victorian Honey bee Compensation and Industry Development Fund for making a dream trip a reality.  In July- August 2019 we visited several beekeeping operations projects focused on breeding for Varroa resistance. It was an amazing, eyeopening, and inspiring experience and provides great hope for Australia’s future.  Read about the people and organisations visited as well as our recommendations for Preparing for Varroa in Australia here.

Chalkbrood research-The stuff PhDs is made of!

We have finished our study  to better understand the relationship between honey bees and chalkbrood in Australia.

This work included a large-scale project to select and breed for hygienic behaviour in honey bees, a national effort to genotype Ascosphaera apis-the fungus that causes chalkbrood disease, identifying volatiles associated with chalkbrood infected larvae, and challenging larvae with different strains of chalkbrood.

Please follow this link to the Agrifutures report to learn all about the research findings.  Join up to our newsletter for the latest updates.

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