April is Sugar Shake Test Month. Each year in April beekeepers are encouraged to test their own hives for varroa and other pests using the simple sugar shake test. From 1 July 2020, the NSW Biosecurity Act requires all registered beekeepers in NSW to conduct at least 2 hive inspections per year for the presence of
We have been advised that now is the perfect weather for the fungal disease, CHALKBROOD, to take off in European honey bee, Apis mellifera, hives. It has been hot and now it is cooler and wet. Chalkbrood is caused by a fungus, Ascosphaera Apis, and it affects sealed and unsealed brood in a hive. Chalkbrood is
An interesting article on how bees make honey... Curious Kids - How do bees make honey
Australian food labeling laws are complicated, so if you are looking for some simple guidelines for honey labeling the folks at Mt. Coramba Apiculture have done the hard work for you. You can see their easy to follow steps at Mt. Coramba Apiculture Honey Labeling
Official Statement: Support for communities affected by bushfire and drought A statement from the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW Official Statement Support for communities affected by bushfire and drought
Link to the Government Bush Fire assistance page Below is the link the NSW Department of Primary Industries bush fire assistance page. The government assistance for fodder includes sugar for beekeepers. Bush Fire Assistance
Small hive beetle response to red light We have all seen small hive beetles (Aethina tumida) scurry away from the frame tops and move down into the darker regions when opening a Langstroth bee hive. It is generally assumed that they are moving away from the introduced sunlight. A similar response is seen if we
WHAT IS SUGAR SHAKING? It’s a surveillance method to detect external parasites such as Varroa, Tropilaelaps mites and Braula fly. It is quick and simple – and does not kill the bees being sampled. The process of shaking bees in fine sugar dislodges the parasites’ so they can be collected and examined. To find out
A club member has documented the process of extracting honey from a flow hive. Some of the pitfalls are addressed including an excellent step by step breakdown of the complete process including the use of a novel multiple frame extraction rig to speed things up. Extracting-Honey-from-a-Flow-Hive
The Australian Government has introduced a new country of origin food labelling system, which commenced on 1 July 2016. Under the new system, country of origin labelling requirements come under Australian Consumer Law. Businesses have two years to change their food labels to comply with the new law before it becomes mandatory on 1 July
Published by the Food Authority NSW Government, these guidelines reflect the requirements of the food safety standards as they apply to mobile food vending businesses. Guidelines for food businesses at temporary events
For beginners: remember the best beekeeping so far as bees are concerned is none at all – just leave them a hollow tree. However, so we can take advantage of the bees considerable labour, there are many and varied approaches. Just be aware that if you ask five beekeepers the same question, you may get
“I’M ALERT Food Safety is an online food safety training program that various organisations subscribe to and deliver FREE food safety training to the food handlers within their local authority. I’M ALERT Food Safety enables a consistent and efficient delivery of Food Safety Training.” General information Port Stephens sign up page
The Queensland Government Depart of Agriculture and Fisheries has a number of resources regarding Asian honey bee, including this manual of the Asian Honey Bee. This is a link to their page Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Figure 1 European honey bee (left), Asian honey bee (right) (photograph courtesy of Paul Zborowski)
This series of 12 videos covers a broad range of topics including honey bee biosecurity and surveillance programs, a hypothetical varroa incursion in Australia and what it might mean for beekeepers and crop producers, information about the life cycle of varroa and hive inspections, and ways in which varroa can be controlled if it
I know there will be other views that will dispute this theory on how the bees manage to build their near perfect hexagonal cells – but food for thought. Always remember the Occums Razor principle. Bee cells
This is an article by a club member relating to internal Langstroth hive temperatures made over various summer and winter periods in 2016. It also includes notes and comments related to hive ventilation and humidity. Included are a number of graphs of the measured temperature variations. The PDF article can be found in the “links
If you have or are just thinking about keeping honey bees (Apis mellifera), in NSW, you must register with NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Visit the NSW DPI here Along with registration details, you will also find a number of useful resources, such as: Pest and Diseases Pollination Policy and Compliance Biosecurity Code of
The general concern in the community about disappearing bees is well jusIfied. Indeed, it is world-wide and most relevant in the northern hemisphere where dwindling bee populaIons are causing more pressing problems than we are experiencing here. And well might the community be concerned, for more than half the world’s major food crops depend on
One of our members constructed this Australian native solitary bee house suitable for any backyard. The insect entering the “hole” is a bee – not a wasp, and the bits of grass were placed there by the bees. These are the plans – suitable for building from any scrap or recycled timber / tin (no
One of our members came across this at the Chateau de Chenonceau in France. Now that is a beehive – non of this boring box on a box stuff. Presumably the idea being to keep the bees well away from surrounding people. A nice simple idea but what a piece of art. This facebook link
Many members receive the ABK magazine – the club library also holds copies available to members. It may not be common knowledge that if you wish to find issues that have articles about a certain topic, the ABK Website has a “search” facility that will give you the issues that discuss the topic. A good way to
This ought to generate some thought among beekeepers…. An article, following on from a 2003 ABC-TV’s Catalyst series by Jonica Newby, highlights: “Honey bees are not so sweet when they escape into the Australian bush. European honey bees are not native to Australia but they play a very important economic role, not just as producers
A research background paper by Danielle Lloyd-Prichard (project officer), The Tom Farrell Institute For The Environment, University of Newcastle, University Dr, CALLAGHAN NSW 2308
Just because we one - a honey mead recipe
“Gardeners can choose a wide variety of plants to attract and support bees. Some plants provide valuable supplies of nectar and pollen for the bees whilst others assist the bees with their nest building.” An excellent information document by Valley Bees
Another interesting site – Beepedia
This website’s purpose is to encourage interest in the study of bee anatomy. Knowing how bees function requires a knowledge of the arrangement of the internal organ systems. We need to know how they function to understand issues of disease, nutrition, lifespan, aggression, survival, breeding and productivity. Although the AnatomyoftheHoneyBee is a century old it is still
BeeAware is a hub of information for beekeepers and growers about honey bee biosecurity and pollination of agricultural and horticultural crops. The site contains an extensive range of information about exotic and established pests and diseases of honey bees, and helps beekeepers to identify and respond to these pest threats. It also contains information about the
An interesting site on honey bees https://www.honeybeesuite.com/
This freely available and excellent document published by the “Commonwealth of Australia, Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation”. Acknowledgement is made of the copyright of this document but the publishers also state that “The information contained in this publication is intended for general use to assist public knowledge and discussion and to help improve the
For those interested in alternate bee hive design, this copy of the book by Abbe Warre and associated design plan makes interesting reading. Even if you do not plan to experiment with this hive design (and it could be modified to suit our removable frames), there is a wealth of general beekeeping information. Here is
The following is a copy of a book called “Constructive Beekeeping” by ED H. Clarke from the Cornell University Library. It gives an interesting perspective about bee hive ventilation and condensation which may interest members. The book has been converted from the “kindle” version and contains a few text and format errors but is very
General hive plans plans - document Slatted bottom board addition slatted bottom board - document So what is a “slatted bottom board” then ??
The Bee Keepers Manual - 1853 Langstroth - the hive and the honey bee
Honeybee Memory “This study demonstrates that the bee with a tiny brain possesses a sophisticated memory, and is able to remember tasks within a temporal context. Honey bees can thus ‘plan’ their activities in time and space, and use context to determine which action to perform and when. ” A honey bee knows what to
Jim Wright heading to the November 2019 meeting Copies of short documents by Jim Wright. 1. Bee Stings The toxic effects and allergy associated with bee stings. bee stings 2. Finding The Queen Finding the elusive queen. finding the queen 3. Collecting Swarms Always a challenge. collecting swarms 4. About Bees A series
With kind permission from the Author (Robyn Alderton) and the publishers of “The Australian Beekeeper” publication, this is good Amateur Beekeeping information – a must read ! – Extracting, Amateur style https://www.theabk.com.au/
This a copy of a 1958 article written by Colonel Pulling of the “Amateur Beekeepers Association of NSW Colonel Pulling Competition” fame. The article was found by one of our members recently and reproduced here in PDF format for all. Your PDF viewer should allow zooming in if necessary, and printing of the article. Backyard