By John Edmonds
Beekeeping is a fascinating science. Sure, you can be just a “honey grubber” or you can apply some scientific thinking to achieve a better outcome. You soon realize that you are always learning and trying to predict what is happening in the bee hive. There are so many factors to alter the outcome.
The weather plays a huge part in the flowering of plants and the bees ability to harvest nectar and pollen.
The management of the hive: Do you shift the bees to a better honey flow? Do you requeen the bee hive? How much honey do you extract? Do you split the bee hive to prevent swarming?
Now we have to learn what varroa treatments are best and the timing of use.
When you observe the bee hive you are seeing a reflection of what occurred 2 to 3 months ago. The quality of the nectar and pollen flow, the weather at the time, resulting in the strength of the bee hive.
The mystery of the bee hive always amazes me. Recently I went away for holidays and before leaving I placed queen cells in queenless hives that I had been using for making queen cells. I usually am very particular where I mate the queens as I seek areas where I predict the virgin queens will mate with hopefully my drones. Much to my surprise half of the resulting queens have mated with very good genetics. I find it a puzzle where the virgin queens mate. I think they are opportunistic and mate where ever they find drones, possibly from their own apiary. I think they seek sheltered areas in valleys or surrounded by tree lines. I guess the bees don‟t read the books about what we think they should do.
7/3/2026 to 30/3/2026
Since the recent rainfall the hive scales have been negative readings, or very little gain. When looking at the frames it is hard to see if the bees are gaining or losing weight. Fresh nectar is in the frames and the bees have commenced laying drones, so I guess the brood making is consuming the nectar and pollen.
Drones all disappeared due to the hot days over 42 degrees a fortnight apart. As a result, queen rearing stopped and is just recommencing with hopefully new queens ready for winter. Queens mated over the January / February months may be poorly mated with limited drones available.
So far, no varroa visible in my hives in the Geelong region but it is getting closer. After seeing an email that one varroa mite has been detected at Inverleigh, and a report of varroa detection at Bannockburn, I will have a close look at my bees in that area. My friends with bees in the Stawell and Ararat areas have found varroa and now at Lismore. They did a trial of Bayvarol and Oxalic acid cardboard strips and found that after 3 days no varroa was in the washes from the Bayvarol hives, and only one mite was found from the oxalic acid strip hives.
The beekeeper lives in Melbourne and has to load and unload his boxes of honey and stickies after dark as the bees from the surrounding suburb attack the boxes wanting to rob. The large concentration of bee hives in the Melbourne suburbs will result in the transfer of varroa very quickly.
9/3/2026
Grey box trees have started to yield heavily at Heathcote with weight gains of over three kilograms per day. Another example of the trees flowering later than usual. At Bendigo the ironbark yielded some of the best honey for many years and now a light budding of grey box is giving the bees pollen to breed.
Sugar gum so far is yielding slowly and budding is sporadic. Consensus of beekeepers is it is not a honey flow this season. Hives are presently losing weight.
Manna gum is making a lot of growth and a large budding for next year. Rain seems to have stopped the flow.
Yellow gum is very varied in the budding, but in some areas it has started to flower. Unfortunately, at Ocean Grove it is not yielding at present.
I did not place hives on moonah as the flowering looked patchy and the bushes very dry, but a customer at Point Lonsdale was very pleased with the amount of honey in his hives.
Winter flowering ironbark trees can be seen starting to flower. In central Victoria beekeepers are getting honey.
Beekeepers in the north east of Victoria are enjoying a very good mountain ash honey flow.
The heavy rainfall throughout the northern areas of Victoria has seen weeds flowering and provide breeding conditions for hives. Skeleton weed and heliotrope flowers quickly after rainfall.
19/3/2026
The hive scales are constantly reporting negative readings with only occasional days with increase weight. The weather has been too cool. It was interesting to compare the variation in nucleus hives located 10 kilometers apart. The northern site had received a lot more rain and the weeds had filled the nucs, whereas at the southern site the bees were struggling and will not survive winter without feeding. I will have to shift them.
Around Geelong in some areas the hives are becoming aggressive. Unfortunately, these hives produce drones that mate with the virgin queens and the resulting bees are more defensive. After the hot weather I found two hives at Ocean Grove had requeened themselves and the new bees are yellow and nasty. I have also found Waurn Ponds valley harbors nasty bees.
I was amused when a beekeeper said they had bees on a “Sunshine” honey flow. Sunshine being a brand of sugar.
Bald brood is appearing in hives in NSW, beekeepers are wondering if this is a result of the varroa. Although I often see bald brood that has formed eyes. I did a brood uncapping of it and found it is varroa free. It is thought that if we can breed bees that have this bald brood feature that it will reduce varroa reproduction.
Almond farms are disappointed as the current seasons crops has been damaged by the heavy rains. The shell of the almonds has become mouldy and unable to
be sold to China and India. The companies make more profit from selling almonds in the shell to those countries.
Pollination prices being offered at present for Almond pollination are $210 for single hives. Beekeepers are not happy with this price especially with increased diesel fuel prices. Many beekeepers are opting for canola crops as it is closer and it appears farmers will be able to sell the canola seed for bio fuel.
The northern coast of NSW and the Gold Coast have the best budding on the trees for next season. I am told that a beekeeper that normally takes 40 truck loads of bees to the almond pollination will only take 6 loads this spring as the honey prospects look so good.
In NSW supply of diesel fuel presently is a problem. I am told by the service station manager that the high sulphur diesel will damage the motors of vehicles purchased after 2009.
Capilano have increased honey prices to $5 per kilogram and premium honey is $5.50.
The source of the varroa resistant to Bayvarol has been found and it appears the beekeeper had been using back-to–back Bayvarol treatments. Unfortunately, recent reports are that a second incursion of varroa may have occurred and these varroa are resistant to Bayvarol and Apivar. I just hope that this is not the case as we need everything to get through the initial stages of infection.
26/3/2026
Five milometres of rain today and more forecast, it will freshen up the growth of trees and weeds. After the past very dry autumns it will be good to see canola this spring. Overnight a further three milometres with very strong winds.
A dairy farmer was telling me that 30 dairy farms near Nathalia have been purchased by a Canadian superannuation fund and planted to almonds. This will be the first year they need bees and further expansion is expected.
Beekeepers visiting from Sydney have said the varroa has killed their bees and they cannot see any bees in their gardens.
The hive scales are consistently reporting that the bees are only maintaining themselves at present. Only on very warm days will be a slight increase, otherwise negative readings. Hive scales are now available for $1000 plus GST. It is interesting to see that in many remote areas they can send a message where your mobile phone is unable to work.
The present wintery cold snap is not unusual at this time of the year. I expect warm weather will return and possibly into May.