Biosecurity NZ ready for a busy summer
Biosecurity New Zealand says that more officers, detector dogs, and airport hosts, accompanied by an enhanced public awareness campaign, will bolster New Zealand’s biosecurity protections this summer.
Sampling has been completed for the largest and most detailed study of honey bee health ever undertaken in New Zealand.
More than 60 beekeepers have participated in Biosecurity New Zealand’s Bee Pathogen Programme and had their hives tested every six months for two and half years.
Biosecurity New Zealand senior scientist, Dr Richard Hall, says the research will provide a wealth of valuable information to the beekeeping industry.
“The Bee Pathogen Programme will help us better understand the effect that diseases, climate and apiary management practices have on colony losses and productivity,” he says.
“We have completed sampling and our experts have begun carefully evaluating the huge amount of data that has been collected.
“This includes studying more than 130,000 honey bees from 300 samples taken throughout the country that are now archived in Biosecurity New Zealand’s freezers.
“Once the data has been carefully evaluated it will be available to the beekeeping industry and to researchers for further analysis.”
Biosecurity New Zealand is aiming to release its conclusions from the Bee Pathogen Programme in late 2019.
As an independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for TB finds the goal of complete eradication by 2055 is still valide, feedback is being sought on how to finish the job.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand has launched an AI-powered digital assistant to help farmers using the B+LNZ Knowledge Hub to create tailored answers and resources for their farming businesses.
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