Blog

Our season is almost at a close. The honey flow has not been great this season. Beekeepers in some areas have been lucky with good flows, but most areas seem pretty low. Hopefully, this will lead to a better flowering of eucalypts next season and a better honey flow all round.

Time is approaching to get your hives ready for winter. Reducing hives to only those boxes that are needed for winter, depending on the size of the colony, and feeding your bees if they are low on resources. Now is the time to start preparing your hives.

Varroa is very much in our region now. It is very important to include varroa tests as part of your winter preparations so that treatments can be applied before the cold weather strikes if suitable mite numbers are found. This will help to avoid tragic surprises when spring arrives.

The recent rain will be well received and hopefully will result in some honey flow throughout the region. 

On the varroa front there seems to be little if any movement which is good but continued monitoring is still required to find varroa when it does arrive as soon as possible. I have also seen beekeepers from places such as the Central Coast advertising beehives for sale on local Facebook groups. I would like to encourage members not to buy from these beekeepers as the hives will be certain to have varroa despite any guarantees or testing or treatments. There are plenty of local beekeepers who can provide bees for you. 

The clubs Christmas party went well with the weather turning out pretty good with just a few showers during the afternoon. Feedback has been that many of the people attending had a great time and relaxed time. I would like to thank all the members who came. It was all the people there that made it a great event. 

Lastly, I would like to wish all members a merry Christmas and a happy and safe New Year. 

So far, the season has been warm but also quite dry, we also haven’t had much honey flow in much of the region. Hopefully we can get a good fall of rain soon and this will help improve things.

The club apiary is going well with our Warre hive being recently installed with bees. I look forward to many more field days there giving members the chance to experience a good variety of hive types.

The ABAs AGM was held at Mittagong RSL. There were some great speakers on very interesting topics. Hawkesbury branch won the Col Pulling Competition and Nepean Branch won the Bruce White Shield. The event went well and was appreciated by the other clubs.

Varroa is slowly moving towards us. It is important to have your management plans ready, so you know what to do once it does get here. It is also important to continue check for other pests and diseases; they are still very much present.

We are well into Spring now and there does seem to be some honey flow so hopefully most of us are getting some sort of honey in. Swarms have also started. If you want a swarm, it is best to put your name on the ABA swarm page.

So far there are no reports of a varroa being found in the region so hopefully we can get another season free from varroa. We do all need to have our plans in place though, so that we can put them into action when the need arises.

Our AGM is later this month so if you are interested in taking on a committee role now is your chance to contribute to the running of your club.

In November we are hosting the ABA AGM. After the AGM there will be some interesting speakers and the Col Pulling Competition. I hope to see plenty of people there.

Good luck with your beekeeping and I hope all your hives are doing well.

Spring is well and truly here. As the weather gets warmer it will be good to be able to inspect and care for our hives. It is important to do your varroa checks and report them back to the DPI. Positive results must be reported to the DPI and negative results are encouraged to be submitted as well. This gives everyone an idea of the concentration and spread of varroa mite in the region.

I also look forward to recommencing field days. This is a great opportunity for all members to get together. For new beekeepers to get a bit of experience and for more experienced beekeeper to hone their skills and share their knowledge.

Good luck to all as you starts to get back into your hives and may you find happy healthy bees.