Articles

Your summer beekeeping checklist Summer is a busy time for bees. Long, warm days and readily available nectar supplies make for intensive honey production and increased egg-laying. Colony numbers peak and bees spend much of their time building and filling...

Bee Friendly Garden - Tips When we hear about bees most of us think of honeybees (Apis mellifera) but there are many more bees around us. New Zealand has 28 native and 13 introduced species of bee. The bee’s most...

Choosing a hive and location for your bees On a macro-level, bees can live almost anywhere. You can keep hives whether you live on a huge farm, a small suburban garden, or a tiny urban property. In the wild, bee...

All the buzz on safety equipment and practices It’s unavoidable: if you’re keeping bees, sooner or later you’ll get a sting. It’s just what bees do: the safety of their hive is of the utmost importance, and they’ll use their...

​So, you’re thinking about keeping bees? Whether you want 1 or 1000 hives, beekeeping can be a hugely rewarding hobby. Beehives take time; they need to be managed carefully, so before you get any hives, you should think about what...

Spring of Swarms – How To Safely Capture a Bee Swarm. Bee swarms have an undeserved reputation. They’re seen as dangerous, and non-beekeepers often find them pretty scary. In fact, bees are usually at their least threatening and most docile...

Rules and Regulations for Australian Beekeepers Beekeeping can be a satisfying and fruitful hobby, but it’s not quite as simple as taking up knitting or model-making. Because living creatures, food products, and potential hazards are involved, even hobby beekeepers need...

Preparation, placement, patience – safe beekeeping practices Beekeeping involves working with a large number of unpredictable living things. So of course, there are risks and dangers. But if you follow safe beekeeping guidelines, you should be able to minimise the...

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More than just a hobby – making a living from beekeeping With around 7,000 beekeepers and roughly 700,000 registered hives (MPI 2016 Apiculture Monitoring Report), New Zealand produces a lot of honey. Many Kiwi beekeepers start out as hobbyists, with...

How to split hives without harming your colony Whether you’re a commercial beekeeper or a hobbyist, you already know that buying bees to start a new hive can be expensive, which makes splitting hives an attractive option. During the warmer...

How to identify and help native Aussie bees When you think of a bee, you probably picture a classic, yellow-and-black striped honey bee, or its furry cousin the bumblebee. You’re probably not imagining metallic green, shiny red, or blue-polka-dotted insects....

Why beginners should join a beekeeping club 5 reasons to find your local beekeeping buddies Beekeeping isn’t something you get right away. Like any hobby, it takes trial and error to find out what works and what doesn’t. Newbie beekeepers...

How To Set Up and Fill Your First Beehive So, you’re starting a new colony? This is an exciting time for new and experienced beekeepers alike. It’s a chance to learn more about how bee colonies live and work, help...

​Helping with the hives: children and beekeeping Kids and beekeeping may not seem like natural partners. After all, beekeeping involves being patient, methodical and calm – not quite what small children are known for. But if you’re a beekeeper with...

How To Clean And Process Useful Beeswax After honey, beeswax is probably the best-known product made in the hive. Wax is made by bees to store honey and is extracted when honey is removed from the hive. It’s a natural...

How to Become a Beekeeper in Australia Plenty of people have idle daydreams about becoming beekeepers, but few leap to real-live hives. This blog will help you to understand some of the basics around getting started with beekeeping in Australia....

Inspecting your hives – when, why, and how often? Inspecting your hives is an essential part of beekeeping, helping you keep on top of how your colony is functioning. Do your bees have adequate food supplies and plenty of space...

The fascinating world of honey bees We all know that bees make honey, but how many of us really understand the inner workings of a beehive? Honey bees are fascinating creatures, living in huge colonies with complex social structures. And...

The dos and don’ts of honey harvesting How to take your honey from hive to jar Honey is the whole point of beekeeping, right? If you’re a new beekeeper, your first honey harvest is pretty exciting – but figuring out...

The future of beekeeping With honeybees responsible for pollinating 80% of our food, our future is dependent on their survival. But pesticides, modern farming practices and climate change are disrupting the natural environment that bees live in, putting their future,...

Winter Beekeeping: Taking care of beehives in winter Keeping your bees cosy in cold weather Winter is a natural rest time for bees. After building up their honey stores through spring and summer, they’re ready to hole up in the...

When is the best time to start beekeeping? Starting your first hive. You’ve done the reading, visited experienced beekeepers, joined your local bee club and even bought hive equipment and a bee suit. You’re almost ready to start your first...

Spring beekeeping checklist Taking care of your bees this spring. Spring is finally here. For most people, that means warmer days, fresh green leaves, and adorable lambs. For beekeepers, it means eggs, larvae and honey production. As the days get...

Preparing your hives for spring Spring is almost here. Here's how to get your bees up to speed. Believe it or not, spring is on its way. It may feel cold and miserable where you are, but before you know...

What new beekeepers get wrong And how to get it right There’s a lot to learn when you’re a brand-new beekeeper. You have to get your head around hive positioning, inspections, feeding and harvesting, not to mention managing pests and...

Beekeeping in a hot climate Taking care of your bees in warmer weather As every Australian knows we live in an intensely hot, dry place – and climate change isn’t helping. Last summer was a record-breaker, with heatwaves and temperatures...

​Rookie beekeeping mistakes – and how to avoid them New beekeepers face a steep learning curve. Beekeeping is part science, part art, and it can take some time to get your head around the process. Most newbies learn through a...

Keeping Detailed Beehive Inspection Notes A hive inspection involves facing thousands of potentially grumpy bees, lifting heavy hive parts, handling a hot smoker – all while wearing a clunky bee suit to protect yourself. If you’re a new beekeeper, it’s...

Beginner Beekeeping Basics: Finding the Queen Non-beekeepers imagine that the queen bee is very obvious – not quite wearing a little crown, but definitely different from the other bees. Unfortunately for novice keepers, this isn’t the case. The queen does...

Beekeeping gear – DIY or buy? Beekeeping can be an expensive hobby. There’s a lot of gear involved – from the hives themselves, to the suit and gloves, to all the useful little tools and accessories. New hobbyist beekeepers tend...

Introducing your kids to beekeeping Safe, age-appropriate ways to get children involved Repetitive tasks. Long waits. Not to mention thousands of small, stinging creatures. Beekeeping doesn’t sound very kid-friendly on the surface. But if you’re a hobby beekeeper with children,...

How To Find A Local Beekeeping Club Near You Life as a beekeeper can be hugely rewarding. But if you’re just starting, it can also be daunting – checking hives obsessively, worrying about your legal responsibilities or questioning your own...

Beekeeping 101: The Ultimate Beginners’ Guide Beekeeping can feel overwhelming for beginners. Not only do you need to get the right beekeeping supplies, find a place for your hive and get your hands on some real live bees, you also...

Bee-friendly blooms The best flowers to attract bees to your garden These days, everyone seems to love a low-maintenance garden full of succulents, cycads, and palm trees. Everyone except bees, that is. Both introduced honey bees and Australian native bees...

The benefits of beekeeping associations What’s in it for bees and beekeepers? Promotion, support, connection, education – beekeeping associations do a lot for beekeepers and the industry as a whole. Whether you’re an amateur beekeeper or you’re running a professional...

Honey: Honey is sweet and delicious, and raw honey contains powerful antioxidants, vitamins and enzymes. Pollination: Flowers, fruit trees, and crops in your neighborhood won’t grow without pollination, so help them thrive by providing natural pollinators. Learning Experience: Many things...

Five Great Reasons to Start Beekeeping There are so many good reasons to become a beekeeper. It’s an engaging hobby, you get to produce honey – and it boosts the bee population, which has wide-ranging benefits for the environment. If...