Queen bees taken to Goroka after quarantine

THE 20 queen bees kept under quarantine after being brought in from Western Australia have been taken to Goroka, an official says.
Acting secretary for the Agriculture and Livestock Department, Dr Nelson Simbiken, said the consignment which arrived last Wednesday were critical to restore the honey business in Papua New Guinea worth about K6 million.
He said in PNG and across the Pacific, beekeeping had been on the decline for years, both in honey production and uptake by local people.
He said the department wanted to increase the productivity and profitability of smallholder beekeeping businesses which generate K1.3 million a year in revenue from over 5,000 hives.
He thanked the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) whose research and funding enabled access to improved information, technical skills, knowledge, and approaches to beekeeping for development.
Research by the department and the ACIAR has been addressing pests, diseases, biosecurity, bee nutrition and genetics to improve production and profitability.
“The project is working to develop and test technical, business and marketing practices for new and established bee-based business,” he said.
The project is led by Southern Cross University, working in collaboration with the department, PNG Coffee Industry Corporation, Fiji ministry of agriculture, Fiji Beekeepers Association and Biosecurity Authority of Fiji.
ACIAR is funding the project through its livestock Systems research programme, with project funding totaling A$1.4 million (about K3.3 million) over four years. The 20 queen bees in Goroka will remain in quarantine for some time.