Legal requirements for beekeepers

Report any significant changes in your hives as soon as possible.

Immediately call Biosecurity Queensland on 13 25 23 if you:

• notice changes in hive health such as
  • scattered brood
  • chewed brood cells
  • crippled bees
  • reduced bee population
• have unexpected losses such as
  • a fall in production
  • sudden colony collapse
• suspect the presence of a notifiable pest or disease such as
  • varroa mite
  • American foulbrood.

Always come clean and go clean by following these guidelines:

• Wear a clean veil, suit or clothes to each apiary site.
• Sterilise hive tools before using them at a different hive.
• Wear disposable gloves and change or wash them and your hands before moving to a different hive.
• Wash and clean the bellows of smokers.
• Change suits and veils if they become contaminated with honey or wax.
• Wash shoes or boots if they become contaminated with dripping honey.
• Bag all disposable rubbish before placing it in a domestic collection point.

For more information on practising good hygiene, read the decontamination factsheet for Queensland beekeepers.

Good husbandry practices minimise the risk of spreading pests and diseases between sites. They include the following:

• Visit clean hives or apiaries before visiting sites that have a history of pests or disease. That is, move from low-risk sites to high-risk sites, not from high-risk sites to low-risk sites.
• Implement a barrier system by separating your hives, groups of hives or entire apiaries into distinct units. This will help to prevent the interchange of bees, honey and hive components. You can use barrier systems in static locations or when moving hives between locations (for example by segregating loads of beehives). Always decontaminate equipment before moving to a different unit or load.
• Ensure that any large apiary (an apiary with more than 40 hives) is more than:
  • 0.8 kilometres away from any other large apiary
  • 2 kilometres away from any apiary that is breeding queen bees.

This will prevent robbing and/or dilution of queen bee genetics.

• Use irradiation to decontaminate used beekeeping equipment.

Regularly inspect your hives to ensure they are kept free from all bee pests and diseases, especially those that are notifiable.

For varroa mite, monitor your hives monthly, especially in the first wave of the pest being present.

• Report varroa mite detections to Biosecurity Queensland on 13 25 23.
• Treat varroa mite if your hives reach the thresholds given in the national guidelines for varroa mite management.

Continue monitoring after the treatment to determine its effectiveness.

Before moving hives to a new location, ensure you have:

• inspected them
• cleared them of all pests and diseases.

You must comply with current movement controls in Queensland and in any states or territories you are:

• operating in
• moving from
• transiting through.

Each state or territory has their own requirements for the movement of bees, bee products and used beekeeping equipment. You must keep up to date with these requirements and any emergency provisions for moving bees and beekeeping equipment.

All of Queensland is a varroa mite biosecurity zone. This means there are restrictions about moving:

• bees (including queens)
• beehives
• used beekeeping equipment
• bee products (including unprocessed honey).

If you are moving any of these into Queensland from a state or territory where varroa mite has been found, you must hold a biosecurity instrument permit.

A load is quarantine-secure if it has been wrapped in a way that prevents the entry or escape of bees before, during and at the end of the journey.

• When moving live bees and supers, wrap the load using shade cloth.
• When moving apiary equipment without bees, wrap the load in plastic or secure it in another way that excludes bees.

When securing the load, always consider:

• the welfare of the bees
• the safety of the community
• road safety traffic laws.

You must keep records either in hard copy or electronically for:

• chemical usage
• bee and hive movements
• hive inspections and results.

Chemical usage

The Chemical Usage (Agricultural and Veterinary) Control Regulation 2017 specifies how agricultural chemicals may be used to manage pests and diseases (such as varroa mite) in Queensland.

You must always use agricultural chemicals in accordance with:

• the label
• the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) permit
• the safety data sheet (SDS).

You must keep a record of every chemical application in your apiary. The record must include:

• the product name
• the situation for which the product was used
• the name of the person who used the product
• the name of the owner or occupier of the land on which the product was used
• the name of anyone who was responsible for organising, overseeing or directly supervising the chemical use
• the date the treatment began
• the current weather conditions
• the method of application and application rate.

Bee and hive movements

Any time you move bees or hives from where they are normally kept, you must create a movement record. This must be done before you move the bees or hives. All records must be:

• kept readily accessible and legible for 2 years after the movement starts
• produced when requested by a biosecurity officer.

This applies to:

• all Queensland beekeepers (commercial and hobbyist)
• the buying and selling of bees
• the movement of colonised beehives.

You do not have to keep a movement record if you are moving bees within your property.

For one-off movements of bees you can use the single-use record movement form. However, if you regularly move bees or hives, you can call 13 25 23 or email varroa@dpi.qld.gov.au to request a movement and apiary record book.

Hive inspections and results

Record the details of hive inspections and varroa mite monitoring. The record should include:

• what inspection or monitoring was conducted
• when it was conducted
• who conducted it
• what was found.

We recommend that you record these details using the Bee 123 form, but you can use other electronic forms or hard-copy records if you prefer.