Australian bee team flies out to help Asian apiarists

The University of Sydney is training beekeepers in Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos to establish honey and crop pollination industries that will help prevent extinction of native bee species.

Australian researchers like Sam Malfoy (above) are teaching beekeeping at six universities across south-east Asia. The project is led by agricultural biotechnologist Bill Rathmell, plant geneticist Peter Sharp and agronomist Daniel Tan from the University of Sydney’s faculty of agriculture and environment.

In a statement, Tan said the research team is looking at ways to improve agriculture teaching, research and practices throughout the region.