Downloadable forms and lists of various beekeeping groups

We manufacture and sell our own beeswax foundation. The beeswax is purchased from the beekeepers in block form. The beeswax is then melted, cleaned and processed known as the weed process. This allows the beeswax foundation to stay pure and flexible. Easy for the beekeeper to work with, and a natural form for the bees.

Our beeswax foundation is pure. No chemicals are used in the process, therefore colour in the foundation can differ slightly, as it is governed by the colour of the beeswax purchased from the beekeeper.

We offer several options to the beekeeper to consider when offering their beeswax to us.

Please contact us to discuss the options, then you can decide which way works best for you.

We also carry a range of Block Beeswax ,Ribbon Beeswax, Beeswax Fingers, Candle  Moulds and Wicking.

See Catalogue - Beeswax / Foundation  for pricing.

Wax moth larvae (Galleria mellonella) are very destructive as they tunnel and chew their way through stored beeswax combs, ultimately resulting in their destruction if left untreated. Beekeepers require a control for wax moth to conserve their frames during periods of storage.

Healthy, populous honey bee colonies do not tolerate wax moth larvae in the hive. Wax moths are never the initial cause of colony destruction but in weak colonies their larvae can damage combs not covered and protected by bees.

¹ The Varroa mite (Varroa destructor ) is an external parasite of honey bees. It was first discovered in the U.S. in 1987, although prior to this it had been a major problem in Europe, Asia and South America. The mites feed on the blood of adult bees, larvae and pupae.

American foulbrood (AFB) {Paenibacillus larvae) is a bacteria that can exist in a vegetative spore form, making the disease highly infectious. Unlike the other brood diseases, AFB will almost always go on to kill the colony. The spores remain viable for at least 40 years, and can withstand wide variations in climatic conditions - from freezing winters to scorching summer heat.

Species of Australian Native Bees

Most of the 1630 species of Australian Native bees are solitary insects, building nests in the soil, or hollow sticks. Two of the more common species are the Blue-banded bee (Amegilla spp.) and the large carpenter bee (Xylocopa spp.)

When untreated pine is exposed to moisture, various organisms can attack/eat the wood , resulting in what we call 'Wood Rot'. Even in well painted pine, a nail or screw into the timber can provide access for moisture and these organisms. In less than 18 months, your newly assembled brood box, honey super or lid can be reduced to crumbling waste material.

If you want your hives to last for many years, and ensure a long productive life, the timber must be treated before you paint it.

Why uncap frames

In days of olde, honey comb was simply crushed to extract the liquid honey.

It takes bees a large effort to build the wax comb, and they consume considerable honey to create the wax. Once built, they can fill it with honey in a very short time, and it can be re-used for many years. For this reason, your comb is one of your most valuable resources.

The most efficient method to extract the honey, is to spin it out using centrifical force (see extractors). Each cell is sealed with a wax capping which must be removed before the honey can be extracted, hence the term - uncapping.

Due to Australian legislation we are no longer able to sell 5% Copper Naphthenate.

2% Copper Naphthenate is the only legal amount in the Australian Beekeeping Industry. 

We now have 2% Copper Naphthenate (CN Decking Oil) available (see catalogue). 

For more information download attachment below.

Over hundreds of years, people have kept bees in many types of hives, from hollow logs, to baskets and Skeps. The problem was they had to destroy the hive to extract the honey, plus they could not inspect the hive for disease.

Best protection - a strong hive

Fortunately honey bees do not succumb to many diseases. Keeping your hive strong, by ensuring good pollen/protein supplies, nectar, and a young queen, is the best protection against disease. The bees natural cleaning ability, combined with drawing foundation wax, helps limit the build-up of disease.

Summary Nosema disease is the most widespread adult bee disease in the world.

Although there are a number of symptoms, these often go unnoticed, and the poor performance of a colony is blamed on other factors.

There are no classic signs of the disease, and hence it frequently goes undetected.

Heavily infected bees live only half as long as non-infected bees.

Nosema disease is most likely present in all colonies all the time, and only likely to cause bee losses when conditions favour the micro-organism.

Why are there different flavours

Honey is produced all over the world and tastes different depending on which local flora the bees have been feeding on. Thus you might find lavender honey in France, or apple blossom from the UK, each with completely dissimilar flavour notes. Most Australian honey tends to come from native flowers, either blended or increasingly available as mono-floral honey.

The next time you suffer a minor cut or burn, you might want to reach for the honey jar instead of the antibacterial ointment. Honey has been used for thousands of years to protect wounds, so long that its medical use has fallen into folklore.

New Zealand research

A New Zealand biochemistry researcher aims to change that......Peter Molan, a biochemistry professor and director of the Honey Research Unit at the University of Waikato in New Zealand , has spent 18 years researching the medicinal properties of honey. "I was looking at other antibacterials and a friend who was a fanatical amateur beekeeper got me interested," Molan said.

The Australian New Zealand Food Standards Code defines honey, prescribes its composition and identifies the information that must be provided when labelling it for retail sale.

Definition

Standard 2.8.2 provides the following definition of honey:

The natural sweet substance produced by honey bees from the nectar of blossoms or from secretions of living parts of plants or excretions of plant sucking insects on the living parts of plants, which honey bees collect, transform and combine with specific substances of their own, store and leave in the honey comb to ripen and mature.

Aethina Tumida, or the Small Hive Beetle (SHB) is a member of the Sap beetle family and is a native of South Africa (first described by Andrew Murray in Nigeria in 1867) . There it is regarded as a nuisance, but not a dangerous pest possibly because of greater aggression shown by African bees towards the beetle.

It was first identified in Florida in 1998.

This pest is new to Australian beekeeping and was found in October 2002 around the Hawkesbury district of New South Wales and, as a result of migration of beehives, at Beerwah in Queensland.

The adult bees of a colony obtain their dietary protein from the pollen the workers collect and bring back to the hive. The proteins of some pollens are deficient in certain amino acids required by bees. Some of these amino acids are essential for bees and cannot be synthesized by them. If there is insufficient pollen, or during rapid hive expansion, the beekeeper should provide a protein supplement.

What is it ?

The Queen Rearing kit enables the queen to lay eggs directly into a plastic "plug". This avoids the dangers of grafting, and ensures correct age of larvae.

The simple definition:

Honey is a sweet, thick fluid produced by honey bees and derived from the nectar of flowers.

(But then you already knew that).

A bit more information please:

Bees collect nectar or sugars in liquid form, usually from plants or trees.

They suck it up into their honey sac or stomach and take it back to the hive.

How to get a queen :

There are three basic ways to obtain a new queen bee:

1. Buy a laying queen from a commercial queen breeder.

2. Allow the hive to raise their own (emergency) queen, or

3. Raise your own queens.