Pests and diseases Archives - Professional Beekeepers

published - 17 January 2020
By Nadine Chapman

Are your hives registered?

It is important to register your hive/s, no matter how big or small your operations. Not only does this enable the industry to more accurately know how many beekeepers and bee hives there are, it is important for biosecurity and disaster response. Accurate information can be used by the industry …
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biosecurity, code of practise

Disaster relief, Pests and diseases, Policy and compliance, Registration

published - 4 December 2019
By Nadine Chapman

Screened bottom boards

Varroa has not yet established in Australia. In the advent that it does establish, beekeepers need to be aware of the available control methods. Chemical treatments have several drawbacks. Miticide residues have been reported in honey and bees wax, mites can become immune to the miticides, and their use prevents …
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hive management, screened bottom boards, varroa

Honey, Managing your hives, Pests and diseases

Some of the foods pollinated by honey bees

published - 11 November 2019
By Nadine Chapman

Australian pollinator week

This week is devoted to celebrating pollinators. Pollinators include: bees, flies, wasps, moths, butterflies, bats and other small mammals, and birds.
According to an AgriFutures Australia report around 65% of Australian agricultural production depends on insect pollination, and around 35 industries are dependent upon honey bee pollination. In fact, one third …
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agriculture, Agrifutures Australia, BeeAware, crop guides, Hort Innovation, pollination, Pollinator week

Beekeeping on public land, Pests and diseases, Pollination

published - 9 November 2019
By Ros Gloag

Asian honey bees in Australia

A swarm of Asian honey bees in Cairns, Queensland.(Photo: R. Gloag)
Today there are two honey bee species that call Australia home: the European honey bee (Apis mellifera), introduced for beekeeping in the 1820s, and the Asian honey bee (Apis cerana) which was accidentally introduced to Far North Queensland (Cairns) sometime …
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Apis cerana, Asian honey bees, varroa

Pests and diseases

published - 9 November 2019
By Elizabeth Frost, NSW Department of Primary Industries

What is VSH? Varroa sensitive hygiene trait

The Varroa destructor mite is a major honey bee pest throughout most of the world. Australia is the only major beekeeping country in the world to be free of the parasite. Varroa mites feed on the fat body of adult bees and developing bee larvae and reproduce under capped cells …
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biosecurity, breeding, varroa, VSH

Managing your hives, Pests and diseases

published - 12 September 2019
By Nadine Chapman

Spring management

Spring has sprung, and it is time for beekeepers to spring into action to ensure a good season.
Early spring inspections

Is there a laying queen?
Is there a good brood pattern?
Inspect for brood diseases – chalkbrood is a particular problem at this time of year
How much food is left? Do you need …
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chalkbrood, hive management, honey, queen bees, spring, supplementary feeding, swarming

Managing your hives, Pests and diseases

published - 3 September 2019
By Nadine Chapman, Tom Gillard

American Foulbrood

American Foulbrood is a highly contagious and fatal disease caused by the bacterium Paenibacillus larvae. This bacterium can survive for extended periods by forming spores which are resistant to both environmental and chemical stressors. These spores can survive for decades (current estimates at more than 60-80 years) and still initiate …
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American foulbrood, barrier management, biosecurity, hive management

Managing your hives, Pests and diseases, Policy and compliance

published - 23 August 2019
By Nadine Chapman, Dr Doug Somerville

To feed or not to feed

By definition honey is a “natural sweet substance produced by honey bees from the nectar of blossoms … which honey bees collect, transform and combine with specific substances of their own, store and leave in the honey comb to ripen and mature”: Australia New Zealand Standards Code.
Feeding sugar and sugar …
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biosecurity, hive management, nosema, nutrition, pollen, sugar, supplementary feeding

Managing your hives, Pests and diseases

published - 19 August 2019
By Nadine Chapman

Chalkbrood

The fungus Ascosphaera apis causes chalkbrood disease in honey bees. The disease occurs in honey bee larvae fed fungal spores by nurse bees. The spores germinate in the gut and the larvae die of starvation, before the fungus grows throughout the larval body turning it into a hard “mummy”.
Chalkbrood is …
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barrier management, chalkbrood, hive management, spring

Managing your hives, Pests and diseases

published - 30 July 2019
By Nadine Chapman

The queen is dead. Long live the queen.

The queen is the most important individual in a honey bee colony. Having young, quality queens is an easy way for beekeepers to maximise their hive populations and get the most out of available nectar flows.
Queens should be replaced every 1-2 years and more frequently if the colony is aggressive …
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Managing your hives, Pests and diseases