Warm Winter = Wiley Wasps
The weather of late in our region has certainly presented us with changes that we would not usually see this time of year. Particularly wasps in winter! We found the concentration of wasps heading into winter was higher than usual and as such, we placed wasp traps around our apiaries to mitigate any
Bees and Chickens
Have you run a chicken coop? Chickens are funny animals with their quirks and behaviours. Bees are similar; they do things that don’t make sense to us, yet to them, there is a perfectly credible reason. This hive in our backyard is one of those moments which gets one thinking – why is
Announcing ABON
In mid-July, I was back in Newcastle’s Varroa exclusion zones supervising the installation of bait hives for the Australian Bee Observation Network (ABON) administered by the Australian National University (ANU). The potential establishment of Varroa in Australia raises the urgency of understa
The Swarm Queen – Part 1
At first, it was a joke about me and the swarms in our family. I am fascinated with behaviours in humans and animals, and as I watch and learn about bees or insects as they are scientifically aligned, I somehow have a knack for swarms. Allow me to explain. I am not avidly seeking out […]
AHBIC 2023 Annual General Meeting
I swung by the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC) Annual General Meeting (AGM) last weekend, representing the Australian Queen Bee Breeder’s Association (AQBBA). As expected, much of the conversation was about the current varroa situation and the likely next steps. I also grabbed so
Meeting Dr Samuel Ramsay
This is a shameless plug at self-promotion simply by association with the famous!!!! Dr Samuel Ramsay recently presented at the NSW Apiarists Association Annual Conference in Sydney earlier this year. While being a dynamic and entertaining speaker at a conference attended by boring old beekeepers
Unhealthy Brood Odour
This is a recording of a webinar by Dr Kaira Wagoner (University of North Carolina at Greensboro) who has pioneered an approach to breed for Varroa resistance without an active mite population.
2023 Royal Easter Show
At the 2023 Royal Easter Show in Sydney, NSW, I helped on the NSW Aprists Association (NSWAA) honey stand alongside fellow NSWAA members in April. It was a tremendous two-day session for me, meeting the public, working the retail side of the honey industry, learning from the NSWAA stand team the c
Varroa – Adversity versus Opportunity
Having kept bees for six or seven years during the “millennium” drought and then Covid-19 has taught me a thing or two about starting a small business – most importantly – “that which does not kill me makes me stronger”.
The Buzz on Honey Provenance
Location, location, location! We hear this statement so often in real estate and yet habitually do not connect the importance of location to the food we eat. In our heavily industrialised world, modern humans yearn to understand the importance of connections and explore their food’s natural or