Managing your hives

Core beekeeping practices have remained largely unchanged since the development of the movable hive frame in the 1800s. Particularly, manual inspections of the hive contents have remained the primary method for evaluating hive condition and identifying and addressing diseases and pests like mites and beetles. In the last decade however, hive sensors that promise to provide remote data on hive condition have emerged. Many beekeepers remain hesitant to adopt hive sensors in Australia. Our work, sponsored by Hort Innovation and Macquarie University, aimed to determine the needs and expectations of ...

The Australian Honey Bee Industry Biosecurity Code of Practice (the Code) was revised in late 2025 to reflect the establishment of Varroa destructor in parts of Australia. This summary outlines what beekeepers must do to be compliant. Where the Code has been legislated in your state or territory, Part B is compulsory for all beekeepers. Part C adds extra compulsory ...

The 2025 Australian Colony Loss survey is closing soon. There are now less than two weeks for beekeepers to get their responses in before the survey closes on 1 November 2025. Unfortunately, participation rates for the current survey are lower than expected. As evidenced in Table 1, the number of commercial beekeepers (those with 50 hives or more) in each ...

Bee nests are more than just homes for bees – they’re vibrant microbial ecosystems. The bacteria and fungi living in bee nests, bee bodies, and their food play essential roles in nutrition, disease resistance and overall colony health. When bees gather nectar and pollen, they also pick up microbes from flowers, soil, and water. These microbes end up in the ...

The National Varroa Mite Management Program has gathered a collection of case studies sharing real experiences from beekeepers across Australia as they manage the impacts of Varroa mite.  These stories, while anecdotal and not formal research, provide an honest look at what both recreational and commercial beekeepers — and Varroa Development Officers — have seen firsthand. They aim to help ...

Varroa mite is a major challenge for Australian beekeepers, but there are plenty of resources to help manage the pest and protect honey bee populations. The AgriFutures Australia Varroa Destructor Research Strategy (2024-2027) outlines the plan for future research, while the National Honey Bee Breeding Strategy offers guidance on strengthening bee populations. The National Varroa Mite Management Program offers a ...

With varroa now established in New South Wales, entering Victoria and slowly but surely spreading across the country, the impacts the pest is having on beekeeping businesses are being felt. With more and more new detections cropping up each week, some of the questions on beekeepers’ minds may include: Just how much of an impact will varroa have on my ...

Researchers working on the AgriFutures Australia funded project Resilient beekeeping in the face of Varroa surveyed 164 international experts, from across the honey bee and pollination industry, seeking advice on varroa. Experts included beekeepers, researchers, apiary officers, and policy analysts from 21 countries around the world (Figure 1). Key findings The key findings are outlined below. Education is the most ...

When managing hives that are carrying varroa, it is inevitable that beekeepers will, at some point, have to use chemical treatments. But where possible, treatment with chemicals should be avoided and a range of non-chemical treatments and practices employed — as part of an integrated pest management (IPM) strategy — to keep mite infestation below a level that becomes detrimental ...

Many beekeepers will be wondering how to best manage varroa in their hives. A well equipped Integrated Pest Management (IPM) tool kit will comprise of cultural and chemical measures to be employed based on colony infestation thresholds. While chemicals are useful in certain situations, such as high mite loads that are a product of natural population growth, or to prevent ...

With Varroa now on our shores, Australian beekeepers have a steep learning curve to understand how to live with the mite. Fortunately, beekeepers worldwide have been living with Varroa for decades, there are many treatment and management strategies that can help beekeeping businesses to continue to flourish. As with all pest management, it’s important industry and government recommendations are followed, ...

Precision agriculture or “AgTech” is well known from fruit and vegetables producers, but it has only recently started to make its way into beekeeping. Hive sensors or “smart hives” may well help solve the pollination crisis. Pollination services are crucial for many growers, but hive supply is often low and their hive represents a significant proportion of production costs. Using ...