In July 2026, four years after varroa was first detected in Australia at the Port of Newcastle, we asked our customers a simple question: if you have been through the last four years managing varroa, what have you learned that other beekeepers should know?
We asked because there is still very little Australian-specific perspective on managing varroa. Most of the guidance out there comes from the US, Europe or New Zealand, where the climate, feral bee populations, treatment options and pace of spread are all different. Australian beekeepers deserve Australian stories.
Fourteen Australian beekeepers wrote back. Together they run over 700 hives across five states, from remote outback Queensland to the New South Wales far north coast, from Adelaide to the Murray. Between them they have detected mites, treated them, lost hives to them, scaled down, scaled up, changed treatments, rebuilt, changed treatments again. They have volunteered with DPI during the eradication phase. They have been called out for the first-ever detection outside a sentinel hive. They have watched their neighbour's colonies die and their own hives collapse in three weeks while they were away on holiday.
Their answers are here in this Varroa Stories series, in their own words. This page is the overview and index. If you're pressed for time, read this. If you have more, follow the three deep-dive articles linked below.
The Australian varroa timeline, in one paragraph
Varroa was first officially detected in a Department of Primary Industries sentinel hive at the Port of Newcastle on 24 June 2022. Within 24 hours it was found in the first commercial apiary outside DPI hives (Rick, our Article 3 commercial voice, was the one who found it). The eradication phase ran through 2022 to 2023, involving thousands of managed and unmanaged colony destructions across the Hunter region. The programme moved to management in September 2023 when eradication was declared no longer feasible. By late 2024 mites had spread through the Hunter, Central Coast and Sydney basin. During 2025 they reached the NSW Mid-North Coast (Yvonne, Peter, Bec), the ACT, Southern Highlands (Darryn), the Eurobodalla (Shayne), and eastern Melbourne (one anonymous respondent in this series). By 2026 they had crossed into South Australia (Steve), northern Victoria (Rachael, Bec) and started their move up into South East Queensland (Rick). As of July 2026, varroa has been detected in every mainland state on Australia's east coast and is continuing to spread inland and west.
The three grouped articles
The full series is split into three deep-dive articles. Jump straight to the one that matches your situation, or read on for the shared themes below.
Five things 14 beekeepers agreed on
1. The alcohol wash is non-negotiable
Every single respondent, hobbyist through commercial, named the alcohol wash as their primary monitoring tool. Sugar shakes were widely mentioned as an early-arrival protocol that most people replaced quickly. Rick from Article 3 has moved to a fortnightly wash cadence in his SE QLD apiaries. Shayne runs one every 3 to 4 weeks and does them both mid-treatment AND post-treatment. Bec is currently mid-treatment as we publish this article and has been checking sticky mats weekly.
"The only way to truly know what the mite load is in a colony is by regular alcohol wash surveillance." (Shayne, Article 3)
2. Waiting is the most expensive mistake
Every respondent who lost hives said the same thing. Rick lost hives before the resistant strain arrived. Peter Kemp lost his hive and stopped beekeeping in Bellingen. Yvonne lost three of five to slime-out because she treated too late in her first infected season. Simon lost most of his 15 hives in three weeks in October while he was away.
"Waiting is the biggest mistake. Do not wait for thresholds that have been communicated, and don't assume varroa is not in your colonies when you know it's been detected nearby." (Rick, Article 3)
"Test as soon as you hear it is close. Or even if not." (Yvonne, Article 2)
3. Feral colonies are the real enemy
Multiple respondents named unmanaged and feral honeybee colonies as the primary reinfestation driver, not other beekeepers. This matters because it changes the timeline. It gets easier once the feral population in your area is knocked back.
"I believe I had an advantage getting into beekeeping after the initial wave of varroa had passed. By this stage all the wild colonies in the bush had been wiped out, reducing the varroa bomb effect." (Geoff, Article 2)
"Feral bee populations are the biggest challenge. Until they disappear, mite loads remain high." (Rachael, Article 3)
4. Don't discount the synthetics
Most of our respondents prefer organic treatments where possible. All of them acknowledge that synthetics (Bayvarol, Apivar, Apiguard) have saved hives when counts were high. But this is also where the newest and most important story in the whole series lies. Rick, from South East Queensland, is now reporting that the resistant strain of mite has arrived and the synthetics no longer work in his area.
"Bayvarol and Apivar worked great until the resistant strain of mite hit us. These do not work at all now." (Rick, Article 3)
"Don't discount the synthetic treatments, the big guns can save your hive." (Shayne, Article 3)
5. Community matters more than most beekeepers expect
Every experienced respondent brought up neighbours, clubs, or the wider apiary community. Kahleea, our Article 4 Julia Creek voice, put her hives in the front yard specifically so her town could see them. Simon's biggest ongoing frustration is not treatments, it is other beekeepers not managing varroa.
"You're doing everything correctly, but other beekeepers in the area aren't managing varroa properly, because their decisions ultimately affect your own hives." (Simon, Article 3)
"Without you, the bees are in jeopardy and we need them." (Shayne, Article 3)
What to do this week (if you haven't already)
- Order an alcohol wash kit and use it. Do one this week even if you think you don't have varroa. Every respondent came back to this.
- Print the AHBIC Chemical Treatment Table. Yvonne named this as the single most useful reference she has, and multiple others echoed her.
- Buy your treatments before you need them. Bec had Aluen Cap in the shed months before her first mite. Steve got Bayvarol via PIRSA the day he notified. Do not wait for the order to arrive after you find your first mite.
- Mark your queens. Darryn does this to make washes easier and safer. Bec has one of the most quotable warnings in the series: "Make sure you know where your queen is at all times, and NOT in your alcohol wash."
- Talk to your local beekeeping community. Simon's Bezo Beez story is that other beekeepers in the area not treating properly ultimately affects your own hives. Kahleea's Julia Creek story is that being visible about it changes local attitudes.
A note from The Bee Store
Thank you to the fourteen beekeepers who took the time to share what they have learned: Yvonne, Peter, Prue, Muhammed, Geoff, Rick, Darryn, Shayne, Rachael, Simon, Bec, Kahleea and Steve, plus one who preferred to stay anonymous. Each contributor reviewed and approved their own section before publication. Photographs are theirs.
If varroa reaches your area (or already has), we stock a range of varroa monitoring products mentioned in these stories: varroa test kits, sticky mats, mesh bases, isolation cages and drone frames.
If these stories helped you, please share them with another Australian beekeeper.
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External references cited by the contributors
- Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (Chemical Treatment Table)
- Scientific Beekeeping, Randy Oliver's site, cited by Geoff
- Your state Department of Primary Industries (Rick, Shayne and Steve all had positive experiences with theirs)