Open the right corner to look inside
Second edition updated in 2025: expanded to cover varroa surveillance and management practices, with most effective recommendations for each seasonal phase.
Also updated with the latest information on all common bee pest and diseases for the Australian industry.
Pests and diseases can attack specific stages in the lifecycle of the honey bee. The vigilant apiarist understands the range of diseases and disorder and take preventative and remedial measures to manage the hive. This book describes the structure of the colony and what to do when things go wrong.
This publication covers the management of pests, diseases and other disorders of the honey bee.
This short ebook is a free bonus chapter to the Healthy Bees AgGuide. It contains a practical step-by-step guide to testing for hygienic behaviour in your bees. Hygienic behaviour is a characteristic of honey bees that promotes resistance to many pests and diseases. It is only available as a multi-touch book for use on iPad, iPhone and iPod. Download from the Apple iBookstore.
| Title | Healthy Bees |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Douglas Somerville, Nicholas Annand, Elizabeth Frost, Danielle Lloyd-Prichard, Mark Page, Kelly Lees, Jennifer Laffan (Editor) |
| Pages | 98 |
| ISBN | 9781760588625 |
| Catalogue number | B945 |
| Year published | 2014, 2nd edition 2025 |
| Publisher | NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development |
| Price | $35.00AUD (inc GST) |
| Paperback / Hardback - $35.00 | Buy now |
| eBook - $17.00 (iPad/iPhone) |
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| eBook - $17.00 (PC/Android) |
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| Free bonus chapter - Free (Learn how to test for hygienic behaviour) | Free from Apple Books |
Type: Publication
Date:
Bee Agskills - Beginning in bees
Fully updated in 2026 in a new edition after 20 years use in industry, this practical guide explains the fundamentals of beekeeping in clear, easy-to-read language. Photos, diagrams and practical tips will help you choose suitable equipment, establish your apiary, safely light a smoker, open your hives, inspect and manage your colonies, identify health problems, and harvest quality honey.
Type: Publication
Date: 2022
Australian native bees
This AgGuide provides a wealth of advice on how you can support and enjoy our native bees, whether you use them for pollination or you have a small backyard garden and collect their delicious honey. Combining the expertise of Australia's leading native bee researchers.
Type: Publication
Date: 2018
Pollination using honey bees
Learn about preparing and maintaining bees so that they are fit for the pollination task. This book describes bee stocking rate required for more than sixty plant species.
Type: Publication
Date: 2016
Queen bee breeding
The definitive publication on queen bee breeding in Australia. Covers cell raising, grafting, nutrition, pests and diseases, reproductive biology, genetics, mating apiaries, queen banking, controlled mating, packaging and much more.
Type: Publication
Date: 2017
Honey harvesting and extracting
The harvesting and extracting manual for the professional beekeeper, with lots of information that applies to all levels of beekeeping. It covers the steps from hive to extraction, the premises where you extract the honey, the extraction process itself, and the evidence you need to keep as a commercial beekeeper.
Type: Publication
Date: 2021
Products of the hive
This book is about more than honey production. The complex behaviour of bees results in other products such as wax, pollen, propolis, royal jelly and, for older bees, bee venom. There are a range of possibilities for beekeepers to consider when it comes to overall profitability of keeping honey bees.
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