The grower organisation will hold a Pollination Symposium as its feature annual event in Keith, SA, on Wednesday aiming to bring together lucerne seedgrowers, apiarists and researchers to discuss bees and how to improve pollination.

Lucerne Australia says the symposium is set to be the highlight of the year for growers, apiarists and associated industries.

The United States is leading Australia in pollination research and among the guest speakers will be the University of California's Shannon Mueller, who has been studying all aspects of lucerne seed production for the past 21 years.

The program will also feature renowned bee researcher Dr Denis Anderson from CSIRO, who has spent many years studying Varroa mite and other aspects of the honey bee.

Lucerne Australia says the day will give producers who are looking to find ways of improving yield through better pollination an insight into what is possible and how to achieve it.

This day will reaffirm the importance of the pollination industry. Aims are to:

• Quantify the importance of bee’s in the production system.

• Demonstrate the importance of pollination and the opportunities which exist within the pasture seeds industry.

• Assist in visualising and prioritising the projects in the industry and to form linkages within the bee and pasture seed industries.

Other topics will include how to assess hive strength, potential disease threats to the bee industry such as Americal Foul Brood disease, and the latest findings of the Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation project into leafcutter bees.

Lucerne Australia is working with the Honeybee Industry Strategic Plan Implementation Committee (HISPIC) and the RIRDC Honeybee & Pasture Seeds committees.

* Details: info@lucerneaustralia.org.au