Issue: July 2026
ABA Membership Renewal Opens 1st June. Earlybird discounts close 30th June
Resistant Varroa, Fewer Legal Tools, and a Harder Road Ahead
Australia needs more than emergency permits and a handful of constrained products. We need faster approval pathways for safe, standardised non-synthetic treatments. We need practical legal access to oxalic acid and formic acid methods that are already widely used overseas. We need clear national guidance that recognises Australian climates, brood cycles and pollination movements. We also need regulators to recognise that the risk of having too few legal options is not theoretical. It is already here.
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Bee Sting Envenomation
Arthur Garske takes a look at bee stings. What is the cause of the widespread fear of bees in the community? It is the fear of bee stings. Not only do bee stings hurt but vast numbers of people believe that because they swell at the sting site, they are allergic to bees.
True allergy to bee stings is extremely rare. Estimated at .03% to .05% of the population.
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Colonel Pulling Quiz
The Colonel Pulling Award quiz has been part of ABA lore for 40 years. It was included into the Colonel Pulling Award competition to encourage beekeepers to take a more detailed look at the technical / scientific side of beekeeping.
The transition to a web format has allowed us to present the 2025 edition of the quiz in an interactive format. Please note that the exact form of some questions had to be altered to allow a self-scoring, multiple choice format.
Test your Bee knowledge on last years questions Read More:
Where are the Miticide Resistant Mites?
The Consultative Committee on Emergency Plant Pests (CCEPP) has approved the publication of a map to guide beekeepers, with a general location of resistant mites. These are not apiaries, but a general locale. The map is a snapshot in time and is already out of date. Do not rely on the map to provide confidence that resistance is not in your area. Beekeepers are nomadic so apiaries are always moving.
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Backyard Bees to Big-Time Pollination:
Unlocking Almond Income for Small Beekeepers
The industry doesn’t necessarily need more bees — it needs a better way of getting the bees we already have to where they’re needed. We’re now working with beekeepers running anywhere from 8 hives through to 200, helping them access pollination. It’s the same pathway I used to scale my own bees. Now, I’m focused on doing the same for others through Let’s Go Pollination.
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Hawkesbury Beekeepers Do Hawkesbury Show
Each year, two weeks after the Sydney Royal Eater Show packs up, the "Show" community moves to the Hawkesbury Show Grounds at Clarendon. The Hawkesbury Show is the second largest show in NSW and has 3 days packed full of all things that make an agricultural show.; Woodchopping, show jumping, livestock and produce exhibits, show rides, sample bags and of course a honey competition.
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Tips For Showing Honey
Beekeepers have no control over what bees gather. Everyone who enters honey in a competition has no control over quality, taste, aroma or density. The class in which the honey is entered is the only section in which the beekeeper has total control, it is also one component of the Point Score (25 points). If the wrong section is chosen, based on colour, but everything else is good, the points that are lost are impossible to pick up on the remaining criteria. Read More:
The ABA Beezeebo
In late 2023 ABA purchased a trailer mounted Beezeebo from Central Coast Beekeepers. In late 2025 it was brought to Sydney Metropolitan Area and is currently stored in the Hawkesbury.
The Beezeebo is an excellent community engagement tool that allows a club to talk with dozens of people simultaneously about the art of beekeeping.
It requires a bit of effort to use but its not difficult. Best of all its available to be booked by all ABA affilliated clubs at no charge.
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Learning About Bee Debris
Bottom-up beekeeping proposes a complementary approach: learning to understand the colony through careful observation when it is left undisturbed. When we use a mobile phone camera to record debris patterns, we can begin to ask different questions - what the colony is doing, rather than what it looks like when opened. Over time, these observations may help inform not only whether intervention is required, but also when, why, and how best to act in ways that support the colony.
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We want you to join the TAB team. It's very rewarding!
Producing The Amateur Beekeeper is a team effort. Currently it's a team of two. Fiona Fernie who is the editor and Ian Spencer who handles production. In reality, we both work on all aspects of the publication. We are looking for two or more ABA members to expand the existing team. Each issue we discuss the content ideas, chase editorial contributors, write some of the copy ourselves and then produce the stories and images as web pages, combine the stories into an issue and finally produce the email that's sent to members on the last Tuesday of every month. Read More:
Biosecurity Update: Emerging Risks to Australian Beekeeping
The increasing movement of people and goods presents ongoing biosecurity challenges. For example, cruise ships travelling from New Zealand to Sydney in less than 24 hours create a pathway for pests such as the yellow legged hornet or bumble bees to enter Australia. In addition, Tropilaelaps mites are established in several South Pacific nations, some of which have previously been linked to incursions, including Apis cerana in Far North Queensland. Read More:
Honey Ginger Muffins
This recipe for Honey Ginger Muffins makes excellent use of the great combination of spicy ginger zing with natural honey sweetness. It's a very simple recipe that takes about 40 minutes from start to finish. Best eaten warm, honey ginger muffins are an ideal component of a winter's day afternoon tea.
The Colonel Pulling Quiz was created to encourage "better apiculture through knowledge".
Any good beekeeping book in your club library or on your own bookshelf, is a good source to read over the next weeks. The photography part of the competition gives beekeepers a wide scope – “Honey Bees on Flowers”. Use your camera whenever you see honey bees on floral displays – colour and focus, will win you good marks.
