Take part in the 2024 Australian Colony Loss Survey!

A beekeeper inspects a hive

A beekeeper inspects a hive

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 business?
  • What treatments should I use if varroa turns up in my apiary?
  • How much will it cost to manage this problem?
  • What other factors already cause colony losses?

The best way to address these questions is to ask the people most likely to know the answers: beekeepers. The 2024 Australian Colony Loss Survey will do just that. Aiming to reach beekeepers from across the country, the survey will gather information from beekeepers about the most important factors that contributed to their colony losses over the 2023-24 season – both varroa-related and otherwise.

This survey is for every beekeeping operation, large or small. It is vital that beekeepers from across the country take part, even those in areas that don’t have varroa. The best way to help the industry is to get definitive information about the impacts of varroa, and we can only do that by comparing colony losses in varroa-infested areas with those in areas that are still varroa-free. In addition, the survey will collect data on other causes of colony deaths, be it small hive beetle, American foulbrood, or others. We want to hear from all beekeepers in Australia so we know what the most important issues are across the country. Similar surveys, known as COLOSS, are run in many countries around the world and have been vital in informing management strategies for varroa and other bee health issues.

The 2024 Australian Colony Loss survey takes about 7-15 minutes to complete online and is open until . The survey is completely voluntary, and responses are kept anonymous. The survey is being run by a consortium of researchers from the as part of the National Varroa Mite Management Program.

But we can’t do it without your help!

Take the survey!

Have your say  and tell us about the biggest issues you faced as a beekeeper throughout 2023-24, both varroa-related and otherwise.

Survey link: 2024 Australian Colony Loss Survey

The results will be published online, so you’ll be able to see where you stack up compared with other beekeepers in your area as well as nationally. Additionally, with the information you provide we’ll be able to better inform policies and management strategies to get the best possible bee health outcomes in Australia and ensure the future of our industry.


Acknowledgements

  • We thank the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council and multiple Australian honey bee researchers for their contribution to developing the survey. We thank AgriFutures Australia for oversight and guidance.
  • This article was peer-reviewed by Emily Remnant and Nadine Chapman.

 

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