The Journal of the Victorian Apiarists' Association
As we leave late summer and journey into early autumn, it is encouraging to report that the 2025–26 Victorian honey season is shaping up as a significantly stronger one than last year. It is also promising that large areas of Victoria, and our friends in South Australia who have had three years of prolonged severe … Read more
Jamie Trimby asks (in the February ABJ) whether a mite count of ―3 or less mites per 300 bees‖ (a 1% infestation) would be acceptable in a nuc for sale, and if not, whether oxalic acid would be an acceptable treatment. As Jamie suggests, consensus is hard to find, but here in the United States … Read more
Fat Bodies and Vitellogenin By Kris Fricke The cute animated video you’ve probably all seen during the national Varroa training sessions, other than having the bees’ hindwings in front of their forewings perpetuated another misconception by way of an almost imperceptible pause in the wrong place. In saying “Varroa feeds one the bees fat … Read more
What temperature tells us about the health of a bee colony By Theotime Colin As beekeeping sensors become increasingly available and affordable, the pollination industry is eyeing the promise of a reduction of beekeeping costs and colony losses (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00218839.2025.2552530) . Recent advances in our understanding of temperature regulation by bee colonies provide the first tangible … Read more
Andrew Wootton First the bad news I wrote of the dangers of miticide resistance developing in Australia in December’s ABJ.[1] Alarmingly, resistance to Bayvarol has already been reported from NSW in the AHBIC News of 11th February[2] and now on the 27th February, a further occurrence in Queensland is announced.[3] With the NSW mites, pyrethroid … Read more