Australia's leading provider of specialised training to rural industries

Notice to the Beekeeping Community.

Since the identification and confirmation of Varroa destructor as part of routine surveillance of the sentinel hives in the Newcastle Port area, Tocal College immediately committed staff and resources to support the required field work and local control centre as part of the emergency response. The emergency response is being coordinated by NSW DPI centrally through its biosecurity emergency response group, through the state control centre (based in Orange) and the local control centre (based in Maitland).

All communications and operational direction are coordinated centrally, so you will notice that Tocal College will not be providing independent updates, communication material or ongoing commentary. Please see the following links for information and official updates on the unfolding emergency response:

• DPI website: www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/varroa
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/nswdpi.biosec
• Twitter: twitter.com/nswdpi

We appreciate the significance of what lies ahead and the challenges and difficulties facing beekeepers, as we are beekeepers ourselves and part of a great beekeeping community. We will provide updates regarding our training plans for skill training short courses in beekeeping and our full-time Certificate III in Beekeeping program.

Our thoughts and efforts are with our fellow beekeepers (both commercial and amateur), and our current and past students.

This year marks 50 years since Tocal welcomed its first intake of female students. Reunite with us on the weekend of 27-28 August 2022 as we celebrate this milestone.

Tocal College has created a free online course to educate beekeepers about the varroa mite during the NSW Emergency Response. The course is a mandatory part of the Hive Movement Declaration for NSW DPI, and also freely available to anyone.