Crop failure fears as deadly #bee #parasite wipes out hives and forces #beekeepers to quit.
A new report has predicted a shortfall of close to 300,000 #beehives for this year's peak #crop #pollination season in August, as the deadly parasite #varroamite wipes out bees.
The cost of managing varroa and the development of insecticide resistance is forcing half of Australia's beekeepers to quit.
Criminal beekeepers in Australia (have them here in California, too.)
Gizmodo: Police Looking for Jerks Who Allegedly Stole $150,000 Worth of Beehives
#NSW police are appealing for information after dozens of #beehives were stolen from a property in the state’s Northern Tablelands.
The beehives – 80 boxes in total, worth about $150,000 – were taken some time between 31 March & 6 May from a rural property about 15km west of #Bonshaw village, 100km from #GlenInnes.
The boxes are described as cream in colour with blue baseboards, blue and white lids and red, clear boards. They were full of #bee colonies. 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
Hobby #beekeepers urged to check for #varroa #mite as more than 1,000 ACT #beehives #destroyed.
The impact of verroa mite will be felt by more than just beekeepers, with the loss of #pollinators likely to also disrupt #fruit and #vegetable yields in the area.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-08/act-varroa-mite-sees-over-1000-beehives-destroyed/106534718
Fascinating – and alarming 🐝:
“The Bee That Everyone Wants To Save”, ‘The Naturalist’ (https://naturalist.bearblog.dev/the-bee-that-everyone-wants-to-save/).
Via HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47520599
#Bees #HoneyBees #BumbleBees #Insects #Environment #Pollination #BeeKeeping #BeeHives #BeesColonies #Flora
The 'White hive' and the 'Center hive' with the 'Green hive' in the background. You can see there's almost no dead bees on the ground below the center hive and a very thick layer of dead bees from the green hive.
It warmed up and the sun was out a little today so the bees were flying from all five hives. The center hive hasn't shown much signs of life except for condensation running out of it on the damp days, almost no dead bees from it. It's the hive that doesn't reduce it's numbers for the winter and eats through two deep boxes of honey.
John 
AI6YR Ben
spectrakel
रञ्जित (Ranjit Mathew)
Pollinators
Osna.FM
Tom