Presidents Report May 2026
Dear Members,
What happened to the first few months of 2026? Within a blink of an eye summer has passed and we are getting into, probably, a quieter time so we can look after the equipment, get some more boxes and don’t have to collect another swarm.
Membership Renewal
As we approach the end of the financial year, preparations for the renewal process are nearly complete. Over the last few years, the ABA committee looked at all expenses incurred to run the organization and cut costs as much as possible. As a result, we can again reduce the ABA component of your membership fee further.
In early June you will be invited to renew your Club and ABA memberships at the club fee plus a $10 ABA “Early Bird” fee. Renewals between July and September will be at the club fee plus $15 ABA standard fee. New members will be charged the club fee plus $15 ABA fee from 1 June till 31 December.
Swarm System
Before Varroa arrived, I told new beekeepers that the swarm season usually slows down after the summer solstice in late December, however, this changed and the season seems to start earlier and we still get reports of swarms.
The new Swarm System implemented last year seems to have worked reasonably well and we are working with the developer to get some glitches in the system ironed out. We plan to send out a survey to members who use the system and those who don’t to get some feedback that we can take back to the developer to guide future enhancements.
Biosecurity Manual for Beekeepers
Early last year we were told that the Biosecurity Manual for Beekeepers would be print ready by mid-year and we planned to include it in the mailout with the membership cards. However, the release date was pushed out again and again so that we could no longer hold back. So, we sent the cards out on their own.
In late October the manual was finally published, but it took another few months until we got the print ready file to the printer and mail out copies of the manual to all members (with the exception of our NT based members who received a copy from their Dept of Agriculture and Fisheries)
We hope the manual is a valuable resource to help identify pests and diseases and foster good biosecurity practice.
Investigation into the origins of the Varroa mite incursion
Finally, the Australian Dept. of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) released the investigation report into the origins of the Varroa mite incursion.
The report provides some timelines, however, the key question about the biosecurity failure has not been addressed. I fully understand that with the evidence available, DAFF doesn’t want or cannot name individuals. However, it seems a lot of information is kept under wraps; information which might be crucial to prevent incursions of other pests and diseases or as Danny Le Feuvre, AHBIC CEO in the AHBIC response said: “If we do not understand how Varroa entered the country, it becomes far more difficult to ensure the same pathway cannot be exploited again.”
In addition, it seems that a beekeeper wanted to be extra smart and introduce “Varroa resistant bees” into Australia and just got treatment resistant Varroa mites instead and goodness knows what kind of viruses too.
Based on discussions I had with queen bee breeders in Switzerland a couple of years ago, we need to be realistic that it will take time to breed Varroa Sensitive Hygiene (VSH) into our stock and this should be done in a controlled manner. Europe has been working on this for the last 40 years with significant funding from EU and member countries funding (e.g. Bee Guards project or EurBeST) and thus made modest progress and it seems there is no silver bullet.
As a beekeeping community we have to ask ourselves, should we take shortcuts and risk introducing new diseases and parasites into Australia or should we work collaboratively amongst Queen Bee Breeders, state, commonwealth and university sector research bodies and only introduce overseas gene stock in a controlled way. For me it’s clear, the first option is too risky.
Col Pulling / Bruce White Shield Competition
We are planning to run the Col Pulling / Bruce White Shield competition again at the Tocal Beekeepers’ Field Day on Saturday 10 October 2026 with a similar schedule to last year. However, as I’m currently swamped with so much else, I still hope to find a club to coordinate and run the event. If this is something you want to do, please contact me on president@beekeepers.asn.au
Volunteering / Committee Positions
Like so many community and not-for-profit organizations, the ABA and all affiliated clubs need members to give some of their time to keep the organizations running. Such help can be occasional volunteering for an event, a specific project or more regularly as a member on a committee.
We have many clubs across the ABA that currently struggle to get sufficient support from their members and very recently one club had to decide if they want to continue or wind-up their club. Luckily fresh blood with new ideas joined the committee and it was decided to give it a go for the 2026/27 membership year.
At ABA level, we currently have a great committee, but we have to plan ahead as at this years’ AGM, our Vice-President and Biosecurity Officer Mike Allerton will reach the 5 consecutive terms on the committee and will not be eligible for re-election.
Next year, at the AGM in 2027, our Editor Fiona Fernie and I as President and IT Administrator will have to step down.
Thus, if you are keen to support our association, please reach out to me or any other committee member to learn more about what we do. We also offer that you can join a committee meeting to see how we work as a team and if you would like to join (try before you buy 😉).
I hope you enjoy reading our webzine.
Cheers
Vince