Honey bees and beekeeping

The Northern Territory (NT) has a small but important bee industry.

The main species used is the European honey bee (Apis mellifera), which has many wild colonies throughout the NT.

If you are a beekeeper, you must be aware of your responsibilities and biosecurity obligations.

This includes protocols for registering your beehives and protecting it from pests and diseases.

Get the NT bee biosecurity guide PDF (2.3 MB). You can also submit a hive inspection report.

Register your beehives

If you are a beekeeper, you must register your hives with a hive identification number (HIN).

To do this, fill in and submit the beekeeper registration form PDF (712.0 KB) by:

  • email to honeybee@nt.gov.au
  • mail to Bee Biosecurity Officer PO Box 8760, Alice Springs NT 0871.

If you have native bees, you don't have to register. But you are strongly encouraged.

Register your beehives

If you are a beekeeper, you must register your hives with a hive identification number (HIN).

To do this, fill in and submit the beekeeper registration form PDF (712.0 KB) by:

  • email to honeybee@nt.gov.au
  • mail to Bee Biosecurity Officer PO Box 8760, Alice Springs NT 0871.

If you have native bees, you don't have to register. But you are strongly encouraged.

Once your registration is approved, you must display your HIN on all your hives so they can be identified should a biosecurity event occur.

After 2 years, you must renew your registration.

It is also your responsibility to keep your details up to date. This includes any movement of apiary sites, transfer of ownership and increase or decrease of hive numbers.

Pests and diseases

There are many pests and diseases that can harm your beehives and the industry.

Some of these pests and diseases are notifiable in the NT. This means you must report them if you suspect or confirm their presence.

These pests and diseases include:

  • Tropilaelaps mite (Tropilaelaps clareae or T. mercedesae)
  • Varroa mites (Varroa destructor or V. jacobsoni) ­– detected on European honey bee (Apis mellifera)
  • Asian honey bee (Apis cerana)
  • Tracheal mite (Acarapis woodi)
  • European foulbrood (Melissococcus plutonius)
  • American foulbrood (Paenibacillus larvae)
  • Braula fly (Braula caeca )
  • Small hive beetle (Aethina tumida).

To report them, call the Exotic Plant Pest Hotline on 1800 084 881 or contact your local plant biosecurity officer.

You should also be familiar with other pests that are present in and out of Australia. For more information about all pests and diseases, go to the BeeAware website.

To detect any new occurrences of pests, the National Bee Pest Surveillance Program monitors locations that are most likely to be entry points.

This program is co-ordinated by Plant Health Australia. For more information, go to the Plant Health Australia website.

To protect your beehives from pests and diseases, you should:

  • be familiar with what they look like, their symptoms and their impact
  • use clean equipment and practice good hygiene
  • use isolation techniques when introducing new bees
  • inspect hives regularly and report possible diseases immediately
  • take part in the annual Bee Pest Blitz
  • abide by the laws protecting the industry.

For more information, get the biosecurity manual for beekeepers on the BeeAware website. You can also find the honey bee biosecurity code of practice, and information on pollination of agricultural and horticultural crops.

Annual Bee Pest Blitz

The Annual Bee Pest Blitz campaign provides awareness of:

  • exotic and established bee pests
  • the importance of hive inspections using nationally-agreed surveillance techniques
  • consistent record keeping and reporting of results.

It also aims to increase understanding of roles and responsibilities and the shared culture in biosecurity.

By participating, you can fulfil their biosecurity obligations and one of the 2 inspection requirements under the Australian Honey Bee Industry Biosecurity Code of Practice.

Read more about the blitz on the Plant Health Australia website.

To learn more about pests and diseases, you can complete the following online training courses:

  • Biosecurity for Beekeepers
  • Varroa Mite Introduction to Management.

Biosecurity for Beekeepers

The Biosecurity for Beekeepers course provides guidance on how to care for your bees in line with the code of practice.

It includes information on the main pest threats and shows you how to check your hives for signs of pests and diseases.

This course is designed for people with a basic understanding of beekeeping practices, but is helpful to all beekeepers.

For more information and to register, go to the Bee Aware website.

Varroa Mite Introduction to Management

The Varroa Mite Introduction to Management is a free online course that fulfils the requirements of a movement declaration.

For more information and to enrol, go to the Tocal College website.

Bee pests and disease can be spread through the movement of infected bees, products (including honey) and used equipment.

To prevent the spread, the importation of bees, apiary equipment and bee products is strictly controlled.

Under the Livestock Act 2008 and Livestock Regulations 2015, you cannot bring the following into the NT:

  • beehives including used brood boxes, supers and nucleus hives
  • unpasteurised honey.

For other allowable bees or bee-related products, you must get a health certificate by following these steps:

Step 1. Fill in the relevant health certificate form:

Step 2. Submit your form by email to honeybee@nt.gov.au.

Contacts

For information about beekeeping in the NT, contact Plant Biosecurity or emailhoneybee@nt.gov.au.

You can also contact the Alice Springs Beekeepers Association. They support beekeepers to develop their skills and knowledge through workshops.

For more information, call 0417 511 017 or email alicesprings.president@beekeepers.asn.au.


Give feedback about this page.

Share this page:

URL copied!