Fresh Honey, Hard Science: Inside the Fight to Save Australia's Bees with Heather Wightman (#202)

Recorded live in the Citizen Science Show podcast booth at the Hunter Science Festival, Dani sits down with Heather Wightman, biosecurity officer for the Hunter Valley Amateur Beekeepers, to find out about a gold medal winning Australian invention putting fresh, spin-your-own honey on the kitchen bench, and what's changed for beekeepers since Varroa mite arrived in Australia.

Heather explains how a new mite strain resistant to standard treatments is spreading, what it could mean for pollination and our food supply, and how everyday beekeepers have quietly become citizen scientists, monitoring their hives every month just to keep their bees alive.

More Information

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063618307697

https://hunter-valley-amateur-beekeepers.org.au/

About the Hunter Science Festival 2026

https://newcastlemuseum.com.au/what-s-on/current-events/national-science-week-hunter-science-festival

https://www.hish.org.au/

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