18/01/2026
This is very good advice. You just need to help your bees survive this initial infestation spike - it will level out. Bee populations has to be the goal.
Varroa update week ending 18/01/26
Pic explained at the end
New locations for our detections
- Cashmere west / Mount Sampson right in the middle 1 hive- 12 mites in wash
- Newtown 1 hive 10 mites
- Upper Kendron 7 hives -< 3 mites
Existing
- coominya 1 hive 16mites in wash
- Sunnybank 2 hives wash 6 and 3
- Yeronga 3 hives >30 mites p/wash
- Chelmer 1 hive 6mites
- Indooroopilly 5 hives average 6-7 per hive
- Heathwood 18 hives mite wash ranged from 30-100 mites (huge increase)
- Cashmere/ Samford in between suburbs
1 hive - nil
So as a great beekeeper and leading queen breeder said earlier this week in one of her posts and to quote The Bee Lady Apiaries Corrine - "if mite counts are jumping suddenly despite treatment, assume re-invasion from nearby collapsing colonies, its landscape pressure not poor beekeeping"
So well said as I know people will be feeling disheartened by it all.
The environmental pressures of reinfestation rates is certainly placing our colonies under immense stresses now almost right across most areas of Brisbane.
Stay as positive as you can bee out there, "where there's a will there's a way"
It does mean lots of work, we sure know 😳
Some basics for when times are tough Control what you can control... don't focus on what you can't...
ie
- SHB - beetle traps in place, chux cloth, oil trays, apithors - help control those beetle for them.
- nutrition - well fed, good protein check levels every brood inspection. Feed if needed.
- treat for varroa, brood breaks, split and force brood breaks, swam shakes -
-tough times breed more bees don't focus on honey- do nucs
- keep the colony condensed and tight, more so than ever right now.... the queen will slow up and conditions of food resources may slow down with unusual early flowering of most species this year in most locations. Watch for it.
With varroa the bees will swarm instinctually for the welfare of the species and get half the colony away from what they believe to be the source that's hurting them. you can't control that - look at it as brood break and condense back down, treat and varroa numbers will drop. Check 3-4 weeks later are they queen right again.
There is no easy solution atm, so as most beekeepers will tend to do, just give it a go and see if it helps our little pollinators.
As always stay positive, add your own checks in the comments and all negatives will get deleted (thankyou have had to for a long time, much appreciated)
The Backyard Beekeeper Team
Rick - just lil ol me
Gracie - south Brisbane east Brisbane and city extraordinaire
Steve- towoomba Kingaroy in The Wild West the wise owl of the bunch
My wife - who tonite took over 20 stings and is allergic to bees just for me is now - guru grafter and mobile hive lifter. (Maybe not mobile in the morning 😳😔.)
And the pic well I just found it super interesting to compare the length of honey cell size at the top of pic that they decided to build in the lid of a Nuc - I estimate it is about 6-7 bee lengths that's one long tube to walk down and throw up in 😂😂😂
