Piers sits down with beekeeper activist Simon Mulvany to discuss the spread of a parasite killing honey bees in New South Wales. Simon explains how the varroa mite entered Australia, the only country in the world that was varroa-free until recently. He outlines the enormous damage the mite causes to wild and commercial bee populations and its threat to primary industries. Simon is opposed to the use of Fipronol, an insecticide banned in the UK and EU, to control the outbreak. He points to the work of US entomologist Dr Sam Ramsay as useful in understanding varroa and African countries as exemplars of pesticide-free healthy natural bee populations.

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Spread Of Varoa Mite Threatens Australian Bees

Spread Of Varroa Destructor Threatens Australian Bees

Piers catches up with bee-keeper activist Simon Mulvany and hears about the Australian government's fire ant poisoning program in Queensland and NSW. There's concerns about the use of harmful insecticides like Fipronil and Pyriproxyfen. There are serious fears for native species and waterways stemming from hit or miss aerial spraying campaigns. Are authorities over-reacting and is it even possible to eradicate such a hardy, well-adapted ant species?

Mitigation Vs Eradication: Finding A Realistic Solution To Fire Ants In Australia

Beekeeper activist Simon Mulvany explains how the new Honey Integrity Act cracks down on adulterated honey and improves transparency in the market. He reckons it's way too easy to import fake honey into Australia and we should be following the US lead. Without a healthy and vibrant bee industry, we risk losing a big chunk of our food production which relies on them for pollination. [For more from Simon, visit: https://beyondinfinity.com.au/?s=Simon+mulvany]

America's Honey Integrity Act

We consider the aftermath of a once sweet political alliance, now in tatters, between the world's richest man Elon Musk and the leader of the free world, President Trump. Despite Musk deleting his most explosive anti-Trump posts from the X platform, it's hard to see these two colossal egos reconciling any time soon. So who comes out of this worse off or will both men ultimately lose? [AND.... for SO much more of our Pod, check out beyondinfinity.com.au]

Meltdown! The Trump/Musk Bromance Implodes

Broadcast every Tuesday at 11am AEDT on Radio Port Phillip 98.7 or 98.3 FM. It’s your weekly dose of science and technology.

Including features on cool gadgets, website reviews, the latest science and IT news, not to mention astronomy and space exploration.

http://beyondinfinity.com.au/

Special thanks to John Young, Paul Wattie, Steve Meyers, Brendon Telfer and the team at RPPfm.

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