20000 Queen Bees

Each year, approximately 20000 Queen bees are posted to South Australian beekeepers from New South Wales Queen producers. The Varroa incursion in Newcastle has disrupted the beekeeping community. Currently, SA borders are closed to all bees, including Queen bees. However, we are not sure how long this will last. Disruptions. Disruptions like Varroa are challenging to predict and make you think about being more vigilant with Varroa surveillance and self-reliant with Queen bees.

Varroa Awareness All efforts are focused on the eradication of Varroa mites in Australia. The first 100 days of the incursion are critical, with eradication technically feasible and economic justifiable. The plan is to make a ring around the incursion and increase Varroa surveillance across the country. If you are in South Australia, you will need this PIRSA Sampling for Varroa Fact Sheet.

Fact_sheet_Sampling_for_varroa_mites.pdf

Download PDF • 1.43MB

DPI-Primefact-Varroa-Mites-27062022.pdf

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Small Scale Queen Rearing. There are few experiences more rewarding than rearing Queens from your best colonies. You can become self-reliant and never buy another Queen bee or nuc again. Training runs over two consecutive Saturdays in October. Raise 16 Queens, and the course has paid for itself.

You will gain skills in Queen rearing and be able to produce Queens for your use or sale. You can take home the Queen cells you have raised during the training and a complete Queen Rearing Kit (value $55) to get you started.

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All the best with your bees. Phil

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