Click here for the Muster story by Michael Burt in The Farmer Magazine of September/October 2022, page 16 and 17: Can we beat the Varroa mite ..read more

This article of 10 August 2022 was copied from The Farm and Farm Machinery magazine: Hort Innovation and University of Sydney developing the world’s first hormone-based Varroa mite pesticide As part of the $1.2 million initiative, scientists will create molecules that selectively bind to and interfere with the hormone receptors of the Varroa mite and fellow honey bee pest, the small hive beetle, interfering with reproduction, development and behaviour. The target receptors are absent from vertebrates, making the pesticide safe for other beneficial animals in the environment. Hort Innovation ch ..read more

A bee as large as your thumb? Megachile pluto - Wallace's Giant Bee A5 size, pigment liner, coloured pencil, ink. From the Flickr page of C.Nahaboo National Geographic: "The world largest bee (Megachile pluto) may also be the planet’s most elusive. First discovered in 1859 by the prominent scientist Alfred Russel Wallace, it was presumed extinct. In 1981, an entomologist named Adam Messer searched and found it on three islands in Indonesia, on an archipelago called the North Moluccas. He collected a specimen and wrote about his discovery in 1984". Read more HERE. https://youtu.be/bXRm6S6aDfo ..read more

Australian bees wax is high grade when the wax is processed from the capping that are removed as the honey is extracted. Once considered a by-product of honey production, beeswaxes now a valuable item. Prices have risen due to demand as the Australian wax is sought on the world market. Organic honey producers are getting prices up to $40/kg for their organic wax. Non organic wax is getting prices in the order of $16 to $20/kg. Recycling of used combs to render gown the wax is therefore becoming much more attractive. On the other side of the equation are the increasing prices of the cost of fo ..read more