Professional Beekeepers

La Niña and the honey bee

2022-05-09T11:59:01+10:00Managing your hives, Nutrition|

In Australia’s extreme conditions, honey bee hives may require nutritional management when quality nectar and pollen aren’t readily available within a few kilometres of the hive. La Niña conditions continue to prove challenging for humans and hives alike. Starvation can affect hives at any time of the season if nectar isn’t available and malnutrition can happen even if nectar is in abundance, but pollen is of poor quality or low in quantity. So, what’s a beekeeper to do? Many beekeepers in areas with intense and prolonged rainfall have had to consider supplemental feeding their hives in order to keep them healthy and prevent starvation. Remember, if it’s raining, honey bees are staying home and eating their reserves, taking care of [...]

Hive management for Nosema

2020-09-18T13:53:03+10:00Managing your hives, Nutrition, Pests and diseases, Policy and compliance|

Nosemosis is a disease of honey bees caused by the parasites Nosema apis and N. ceranae. Nosemosis often affects adult field bees which can reduce the number of adult bees in the hive that are active and foraging. This causes younger bees to forage at an earlier age, which results in shortened lifespans and lower productivity. Queen bees can also be infected, which reduces their lifespan and egg laying ability.  Video: Trevor Monson of Monson’s Honey and Pollination discusses the effect of Nosema on honey bee colonies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptlDgs8BIas Colonies infected with Nosemosis are more likely to experience population losses and reduced productivity. Visual symptoms of the disease are diarrhoea, which can be observed around the hive entrance or [...]

Hive management: Autumn & winter

2020-09-18T14:03:11+10:00Biosecurity, Code of Practice, Managing your hives, Nutrition, Pests and diseases|

Hive management in autumn is critical to ensuring your hives survive winter. Disease and colony management is best performed in autumn rather than in winter. Perform a pre-winter inspection in late April or early May on a warm sunny day: Ensure that all colonies have a laying queen Colonies without a queen or with a weak queen should either be requeened or combined with another colony; it is better to have fewer, strong colonies that have a greater chance to survive winter, and will build up faster in spring Colonies with less than 6 frames of bees should be culled or combined. Temperature regulation is impossible without enough bees Hives should be condensed to one or two boxes to reduce [...]

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