The Journal of the Victorian Apiarists' Association
As we approach our first Victorian winter with varroa mites, we must be even more careful to consider colony health. Bees in winter are different from those of the rest of the year. Instead of a work-weary demise after about 6 weeks, winter bees are longer lived. Indeed in climates much colder than ours, they … Read more
Fat Bodies and Vitellogenin By Kris Fricke The cute animated video you’ve probably all seen during the national Varroa training sessions, other than having the bees’ hindwings in front of their forewings perpetuated another misconception by way of an almost imperceptible pause in the wrong place. In saying “Varroa feeds one the bees fat … Read more
What temperature tells us about the health of a bee colony By Theotime Colin As beekeeping sensors become increasingly available and affordable, the pollination industry is eyeing the promise of a reduction of beekeeping costs and colony losses (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00218839.2025.2552530) . Recent advances in our understanding of temperature regulation by bee colonies provide the first tangible … Read more
Andrew Wootton First the bad news I wrote of the dangers of miticide resistance developing in Australia in December’s ABJ.[1] Alarmingly, resistance to Bayvarol has already been reported from NSW in the AHBIC News of 11th February[2] and now on the 27th February, a further occurrence in Queensland is announced.[3] With the NSW mites, pyrethroid … Read more
By Andrew Wootton With several varroa detections in metropolitan Melbourne and the Victorian varroa heat map looking like a Christmas pudding, we can safely assume that you either already have mites in your hive or will have this season.So it was encouraging to attend the Melbourne Section club meeting on the 29th January and see … Read more