Research on Preventing the Introduction of Asian Honey Bees to Australia
ANNOUNCER: Section 3. You will hear part of a seminar in which a researcher called Grant Freema
discusses his work on Australian honeybees with a group of students. First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 24. Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 24.
PROFESSOR: Good morning everyone. In today's seminar, Grant Freema
, a biologist who specializes in identifying insects and works for the Australian Quarantine Service, will talk about his current research.
GRANT: Good morning everyone. As you know, the quarantine service regulates all food imported into Australia.
GRANT: Their aim is to protect the country from diseases and insect pests that may arrive with imported goods.
GRANT: My role is to help prevent new insect species from entering the country.
GRANT: My research focuses on locating a particular insect called the Asian Honey Bee.
GRANT: We are trying to determine whether any have entered different parts of Australia.
GRANT: Some were previously found in Queensland, but they were successfully eradicated.
GRANT: Now we want to ensure they do not spread to New South Wales or other states.
STUDENT: What is wrong with Asian Honey Bees? Are they very different from Australian bees?
GRANT: They actually look very similar, but Asian bees carry mites.
GRANT: These are microscopic parasites that live on bees and can seriously harm native Australian bees.
GRANT: In the worst case, they could even wipe out the native bee population.
PROFESSOR: What would happen if Australian bees disappeared?
GRANT: Australian honey is known for its excellent quality, far better than honey produced by Asian bees.
GRANT: In fact, Australia exports queen bees to many countries.
GRANT: Earlier, when European honey bees appeared in the wild, they produced poor quality honey.
GRANT: They were also too large to pollinate many native flowers.
STUDENT: Did that damage the native plants?
GRANT: No, we managed to control them before that happened.
GRANT: However, Asian bees could cause serious economic problems.
GRANT: Native bees pollinate crops worth about $1.2 billion each year.
GRANT: That is why they are often called the farmer’s friend.
GRANT: Another problem is that the sting of an Asian bee can cause allergic reactions in some people.
ANNOUNCER: Before you hear the rest of the seminar, you have some time to look at questions 25 to 30. Now listen and answer questions 25 to 30.
PROFESSOR: How will you know if Asian bees have entered Australia?
GRANT: We study the diet of a bird called the Rainbow Bee Eater.
GRANT: This bird eats many kinds of insects.
GRANT: Fortunately, we can analyze exactly what it eats.
PROFESSOR: How is that possible?
GRANT: Insects have external skeletons.
GRANT: The bird digests the soft tissue and later coughs up the indigestible parts in a pellet.
GRANT: These pellets contain insect wings and skeleton fragments.
PROFESSOR: How do you collect them?
GRANT: We locate the birds' feeding sites in the field.
GRANT: Then we gather the pellets and take them to the laboratory.
PROFESSOR: What happens next?
GRANT: First we soften the pellets by adding water.
GRANT: Then we examine them under a microscope.
GRANT: We carefully separate and identify insect wings.
GRANT: In particular, we look for wings belonging to Asian honey bees.
PROFESSOR: Have you found any?
GRANT: So far, our results show that Asian bees have not entered Australia in large numbers.
GRANT: This method is much more reliable than trying to find live insects.
PROFESSOR: Thank you, Grant. That was very interesting.
ANNOUNCER: That is the end of Section 3. You now have half a minute to check your answers.
