A harbourside home fit for a queen bee

VICTORIA’S most important beehives need to be strong and healthy to play their part as our first line of defence against exotic bee pests and disease.

Agriculture Victoria bee biosecurity officer Ally Driessen said there were 20 sentinel hives at four Victorian ports: Melbourne, Geelong, Hastings and Portland.

“Our sentinel hives are monitored every six weeks as part of a national program aimed at providing an early alert system to pests such as Varroa mite entering Australia,” she said.

“As part of our bee husbandry, hives are checked and, if required, re-queened. The queen bee is vital to the hive and it’s important that she is healthy and productive.”

Ms Driessen said if a new queen bee is required, they are sourced from a variety of breeders around Victoria.

Ms Driessen added as part of the Honeybee Pest Warrior program, beekeepers are asked to complete a sugar shake and a drone uncapping, which is a key tool in helping review the health of a beehive.

“Recording negative results are just as important as positive detections, as they help us to prove ongoing freedom of exotic bee pests in Victoria,” she said.

To find out more about beekeeping, go to beeaware.org.au.