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Improved methods for bee development and control of bee mites in Papua New Guinea

Project ID

AS2/1994/018

Project Country

Commissioned Organisation

CSIRO Entomology, Australia

Project Leader

Dr Denis Anderson

Email

Denis.Anderson@csiro.au

Phone: 

02 6246 4148

Fax: 

02 6246 4173

Collaborating Institutions

Department of Agriculture and Livestock, Papua New Guinea

Project Budget

$491,966.00

Start Date

01/07/1995

Finish Date

30/06/1998

Extension Start Date

01/07/1998

Extension Finish Date

30/06/1999

ACIAR Research Program Manager

Dr Denis Hoffmann

Overview Objectives

This project builds on a previous ACIAR project which was initiated following the discovery in 1986 of the exotic Asian hive bee Apis cerana and the parasitic bee mites Varroa jacobsoni and Tropilaelaps clareae in Papua New Guinea. Major concerns were the threat the mites posed to the PNG beekeeping industry based on the European honey bee Apis mellifera and the increased risk that the Asian bee and the mites could enter Australia.

The new project will address further research questions to ensure an effective response to the presence of the Asian hive bee and the bee mites in PNG.

Project Background and Objectives

Previous findings included that:

the Asian hive bee is ideally suited to the PNG environment and will spread throughout the PNG mainland;

the mite V. jacobsoni, whose natural host is the Asian hive bee, cannot reproduce on the European honey bee in PNG and will not present a serious problem for beekeeping there;

spread of T. clareae, whose natural host is the giant honey bee Apis dorsata, is via feral European honey bee populations and is restricted to the Highlands;

in the absence of control with chemical acaricides, invasion of a European honey bee colony by T. clareae invariably leads to death of the colony; and

chemical control of T. clareae in hived colonies would be possible but expensive and, as the mite is apparently killing all feral honey bee colonies, eradication appears a realistic option.

Location

There are no project locations defined for this project.