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Varroa mites enter a hive through a bee, they attach themselves to a bee’s abdomen, and it only takes one bee with a varroa mite to enter your hive through drift or robbing for an infestation to begin to grow. ...
Honey stores and winter success How much honey do you need to leave in the hive? Winter is the quiet season for bees and beekeepers. Instead of weekly hive checks, disease treatments and honey harvesting, you can leave your bees...
Packing down for the winter Getting your hives and parts sorted for the season Like us, bees want to be warm, safe and well-fed during winter. That’s why winter hive prep is all about reducing space, defending against intruders and...
Managing Varroa Mites in Honey Bee Hives When it comes to bee’s worst enemy, varroa, immediate action is important. The earlier you find and treat a mite infestation, the easier it is to control them and prevent their spread to...
Why record keeping is crucial for varroa mite detection Record keeping is one of the most important processes in beekeeping all beekeepers must apply. Beekeepers must maintain records of biosecurity-related actions and observations they encountered during hive inspections. In order...
What are Varroa Mites and why you should be vigilant Varroa destructor are a small mite that infects honeybee colonies (apis mellifera). As their name suggests, these mites are highly dangerous and destructive to your bees. They will both deplete...
What is ‘alcohol washing' & why is it important for varroa mites? The alcohol washing method is a quick and effective method for detecting the presence of varroa mites. It is also used in monitoring colony mite levels. Wash method can...
What Beekeepers Should Know About Varroa Mites? Varroa mites or Varroa destructor are tiny red-brown external parasites of honey bees that are about the size of a sesame seed. Varroa mites mainly feed and reproduce on larvae and pupae in...
Why record keeping is crucial for varroa mite detection Record keeping is one of the most important processes in beekeeping all beekeepers must apply. Beekeepers must maintain records of biosecurity-related actions and observations they encountered during hive inspections. In order...
Varroa surveillance tools and techniques In the early stages of an invasion reliable tools and detection rates are critical. The methods described below are laid out in detail to ensure good compliance. Shortcuts and modifications to the method can result...
Varroa surveillance planning Before we explore varroa surveillance techniques you need a plan and structure. Surveillance should not be carried out ad hoc or on a whim as it will ultimately lead to poor outcomes. The worst of which is...
Your summer beekeeping checklist Summer is a busy time for bees. Long, warm days and readily available nectar supplies make for intensive honey production and increased egg-laying. Colony numbers peak and bees spend much of their time building and filling...
A Guide On Beekeeping This Autumn Bees work tirelessly throughout the warmer months to forage for nectar and produce honey. But as the days grow colder, bees are settling down for the winter, and a change in bee activity calls...
Bees, our food supply, and a clever supermarket campaign A Sydney supermarket recently stripped its shelves of fruit, vegetables and even coffee, in a bid to showcase what a life without bees would look like. And it was a shock...
What It Means, And When To Take Action Bees are complex creatures. There’s a lot to learn – and even old-hand beekeepers need guidance from time to time. If you’ve noticed bees hanging around the front of your hive more...
How to prevent invasion and treat infestation Bees make so many useful and delicious products – honey, wax, propolis, royal jelly – it makes sense that humans aren’t the only species that want to access them. But unlike humans, who...
The Important Role Of The Queen Bee In A Colony The queen bee is at the heart of the hive. She’s the mother of all the other members and the glue that holds the colony together. Without a queen, the...
Symptoms, Treatment And Prevention Tropilaelaps mites are external parasites that move quickly among honeycombs and feed on the haemolymph (blood) of bee larvae and pupae. They’re native to Asia, but pose a significant threat to beekeeping worldwide – if they...
Understanding Tracheal Mite (TM) and Disease The tracheal mite, also known as Acarapis woodi, is an invasive hive parasite. Discovered in 1919 on the Isle of Wight, the mites cause a disease called Carine disease or Acariosis, which is deadly...
Bee Friendly Garden - Tips When we hear about bees most of us think of honeybees (Apis mellifera) but there are many more bees around us. New Zealand has 28 native and 13 introduced species of bee. The bee’s most...
Choosing a hive and location for your bees On a macro-level, bees can live almost anywhere. You can keep hives whether you live on a huge farm, a small suburban garden, or a tiny urban property. In the wild, bee...
How To Identify them, And What They Say About Your Hive For anyone just starting beekeeping, identifying different cells can be a hard task. Knowing how to deal with them can be even trickier. If you open your hive and...
Your Guide To Modern Homesteading When you think of a homestead, you may imagine a glorious farmhouse sitting on acres of land with rolling hills, pigs in a pen, chickens in the backyard and an orchard full of fruit trees....
All the buzz on safety equipment and practices It’s unavoidable: if you’re keeping bees, sooner or later you’ll get a sting. It’s just what bees do: the safety of their hive is of the utmost importance, and they’ll use their...
So, you’re thinking about keeping bees? Whether you want 1 or 1000 hives, beekeeping can be a hugely rewarding hobby. Beehives take time; they need to be managed carefully, so before you get any hives, you should think about what...
Spring of Swarms – How To Safely Capture a Bee Swarm. Bee swarms have an undeserved reputation. They’re seen as dangerous, and non-beekeepers often find them pretty scary. In fact, bees are usually at their least threatening and most docile...
Rules and Regulations for Australian Beekeepers Beekeeping can be a satisfying and fruitful hobby, but it’s not quite as simple as taking up knitting or model-making. Because living creatures, food products, and potential hazards are involved, even hobby beekeepers need...
Protecting your bees from diseases and pests As a beekeeper, caring for your hive is the best prevention against nasty pests or diseases. But, it’s still good to know what to look out for and what you should do. We’ve...
Protect bees, prevent stings – how to keep wasps out of your garden Whether you’re a gardener, a beekeeper, or just love the outdoors, wasps in the garden are less than ideal. Painful stings are the most obvious downside, but...
Preparation, placement, patience – safe beekeeping practices Beekeeping involves working with a large number of unpredictable living things. So of course, there are risks and dangers. But if you follow safe beekeeping guidelines, you should be able to minimise the...
More than just a hobby – making a living from beekeeping With around 7,000 beekeepers and roughly 700,000 registered hives (MPI 2016 Apiculture Monitoring Report), New Zealand produces a lot of honey. Many Kiwi beekeepers start out as hobbyists, with...
How to split hives without harming your colony Whether you’re a commercial beekeeper or a hobbyist, you already know that buying bees to start a new hive can be expensive, which makes splitting hives an attractive option. During the warmer...
Monitor, manage and minimise swarms Keeping your bees happy, healthy and swarm-free. Swarming may be natural bee behaviour, but it’s not popular with most beekeepers. When a colony swarms, roughly half the population, including the queen, leaves the hive in...
Minding your beeswax There’s more to beekeeping than honey Honey is great, but it isn’t the only useful thing you can get from your busy bees. Beeswax, propolis, and royal jelly are just some of the other substances produced by...
How to identify and help native Aussie bees When you think of a bee, you probably picture a classic, yellow-and-black striped honey bee, or its furry cousin the bumblebee. You’re probably not imagining metallic green, shiny red, or blue-polka-dotted insects....
Why beginners should join a beekeeping club 5 reasons to find your local beekeeping buddies Beekeeping isn’t something you get right away. Like any hobby, it takes trial and error to find out what works and what doesn’t. Newbie beekeepers...
Learn How To Keep Your Hive Safe Stonebrood is a fungal condition that affects both larvae and adult bees. The name comes from its effect on larvae – when they’re infected, they harden, turn black and resemble small stones. As...
How To Set Up and Fill Your First Beehive So, you’re starting a new colony? This is an exciting time for new and experienced beekeepers alike. It’s a chance to learn more about how bee colonies live and work, help...
Helping with the hives: children and beekeeping Kids and beekeeping may not seem like natural partners. After all, beekeeping involves being patient, methodical and calm – not quite what small children are known for. But if you’re a beekeeper with...
How To Clean And Process Useful Beeswax After honey, beeswax is probably the best-known product made in the hive. Wax is made by bees to store honey and is extracted when honey is removed from the hive. It’s a natural...
How to Become a Beekeeper in Australia Plenty of people have idle daydreams about becoming beekeepers, but few leap to real-live hives. This blog will help you to understand some of the basics around getting started with beekeeping in Australia....
Inspecting your hives – when, why, and how often? Inspecting your hives is an essential part of beekeeping, helping you keep on top of how your colony is functioning. Do your bees have adequate food supplies and plenty of space...
How Climate Change Is Affecting bees Bees are tough little creatures, able to thrive almost anywhere – the only place in the world without beehives is Antarctica. But as climate change brings on extreme weather patterns, temperature changes and rising...
The fascinating world of honey bees We all know that bees make honey, but how many of us really understand the inner workings of a beehive? Honey bees are fascinating creatures, living in huge colonies with complex social structures. And...
Honey is great, but there’s more! Other wonderful things busy bees do for us You might think of beekeeping as being all about honey, but it’s a whole lot more than that. Bees produce honey, sure, but along the way...
A look into Australian honey varieties Our bees work hard to make honey, sometimes collecting nectar from more than one million flowers to produce almost half a kilo. The flavour of honey is affected by different flower nectars. While foraging,...
The dos and don’ts of honey harvesting How to take your honey from hive to jar Honey is the whole point of beekeeping, right? If you’re a new beekeeper, your first honey harvest is pretty exciting – but figuring out...
The future of beekeeping With honeybees responsible for pollinating 80% of our food, our future is dependent on their survival. But pesticides, modern farming practices and climate change are disrupting the natural environment that bees live in, putting their future,...
Your Guide To Feeding Bees Supplemental feeding is a controversial topic in Australia. It comes with a lot of conflicting information, which can leave you feeling confused about what to do. The truth is, feeding your bees in the lead-up...