06/09/2026
🐝 VARROA UPDATE — WEEK ENDING 6 SEPTEMBER 2026 🐝
❤️ And Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there!
One Year of Sunday Updates
Tonight’s update is a little different.
One year ago, we started sharing these weekly updates with the Australian beekeeping community.
We started because Varroa was moving, suburb by suburb, across South East Queensland — and we wanted people to be prepared.
We wanted to share what we were seeing, what we were learning, what was working, what wasn’t, and hopefully help other beekeepers save even a few colonies along the way.
Every Sunday, I would sit down and write to keep the updates going.
It hasn’t always been easy.
Dealing with Varroa, colony losses, rebuilding and the sheer emotional toll of watching colonies disappear has been hard enough. Trying to stay motivated while dealing with the self-appointed social media experts has sometimes been another battle altogether.
But this was never about being right.
It was about helping beekeepers.
It was about giving someone another piece of information that might save a hive.
Another beekeeper who might recognise something early.
Another colony that might survive because someone read something here and acted.
That has always been our motivation.
Lessons Learned
Anyone who works with livestock or grows crops knows the reality.
It isn’t easy.
Every year is different.
It’s a rollercoaster of highs and lows.
You take the wins when they come, absorb the losses, rebuild and keep moving forward.
Because we do this because we love it.
We love the early mornings.
The hard work.
The uncertainty.
The thousands of bee stings. 😂🐝
We love these incredible little creatures.
For generations, beekeepers have looked after colonies, helped them thrive and passed that knowledge on. But where is the next generation, and why would they be motivated to continue?
Now we have a responsibility to rebuild.
To learn.
To adapt.
And to leave something behind for the next generation.
So tonight, I want you to think about something.
Did we do enough?
Did we share the message?
Did we send the emails?
Did we write the letters?
Did we speak up?
Did we sign the petitions?
Did we keep pushing when it felt like nobody was listening?
Did we do enough for our kids — and their kids — while we still had the opportunity?
Or did we eventually decide it was all too hard?
Because it’s very easy to say:
“Nobody is listening.”
“Nobody cares.”
But perhaps the most important thing we can do now is make sure we don’t become the people who stopped caring.
The Current Challenges
We are now seeing other states beginning to make more noise — states that weren’t facing the same battle last year and are now starting to experience the reality of Varroa and the losses that come with it.
We genuinely hope they are heard.
Nobody should have to go through what so many Queensland beekeepers have already experienced.
We have saved many, many hives.
But the truth is, so many more were lost.
And sadly, there are still more losses to come.
There are beekeepers rebuilding from the ground up.
There are families trying to work out how to keep going.
And there are farmers who have yet to see the full impact of what is happening to our pollination capacity.
That impact may become very real in the not-too-distant future.
We tried.
The media attention.
The political pressure.
The petitions.
The emails.
The letters.
The conversations.
But ultimately, we couldn’t generate the level of public or government support that beekeepers and farmers needed.
And perhaps that’s the hardest part.
The Final Sunday Update
🐝 This will be our last Sunday Varroa Update.
Not because we have stopped caring.
Quite the opposite.
After a full year of doing this every Sunday, it’s time for us to put more of our energy into rebuilding, looking after our own bees, supporting our clients and helping the beekeepers around us.
We have heaps of bees, nucs and also
re- starting our queen reeding program, so endless days ahead on the bees and helping those who need help and want ti start beekeeping.
We will still share information.
We will still talk about things we find in the field.
We will still pass on anything we believe could help another beekeeper.
And when there is something important that needs to be said, we’ll say it.
To every beekeeper who has lost colonies, lost income, lost sleep and sometimes wondered whether it was worth continuing…
Keep going.
Rebuild.
Learn.
Adapt.
And look after each other.
Because whatever happens next, we are still here.
And so are the bees. 🐝❤️
Thank You
To everyone who has followed these updates, shared them, commented, sent messages, offered support or simply read them quietly every Sunday night…
Thank you. ❤️
To those who have supported us with constructive feedback — thank you. It has always been welcome.
To those whose comments were less than helpful…
Well, as always, they get irradiated like AFB. 😂🐝
Thank you for one year.
Keep your bees safe. Keep learning. Keep talking.
And most importantly…
Keep caring. ❤️🐝
— Rick - just a beekeeper
Gracie - the southern beekeeping queen
Steve - Dr Drone of the Wild West
Wifey- Lady Linchpin - holding it all together.
