There is a common misconception that there are no SHB or cane toads in WA, sadly that is wrong (Australia being one of the most urbanised country many people have no idea or don’t care what happens outside a three hour drive radius from any capital city). SHB arrived in the Ord River Irrigitation Area (ORIA) around 2007, about the same time the cane toads arrived in the Kimberley. The ORIA has a thriving horticulture industry that requires hundred of bee hives for about 8 month a year from autum till early spring. The sad thing is because of hive movement restrictions imposed by authorities many, many hives are imported early in the pollination season from the south-west WA, but won’t be allowed to go back down south after the season finishes. Because the summer with a heavy wet season, very high temperatures and humidity with not much forage available it can be be very difficult to bring the bees through the wet season, so many good, healthy hives get euthanised after the season 
Thanks Georgina for that, and you are correct. Western Australia is a massive state. SHB is so far contained up north and the Dept of Ag are doing a very good job in stopping it from spreading further. We are in Perth, a week’s drive down south and they are not going to pop over here overnight. Having said that, of course one still has to be vigilant.
The Dept of Ag here in WA has my full support.
Sadly I am serious, and sadly what used to be done to control the spread of pests and diseases in Australia has been eroded over time in my opinion.
There was a time that the CSIRO were very pro active in research a way of finding something like a virus that would only work against cane toads but that research stopped, maybe too early, with no positive result.
I’m not suggesting in any way that they will be as far south as Perth in a week but look how far SHB has spread since it was introduced into Australia at the RAAF base at Richmond in NSW when the Olympics where held in Sydney.
Cheers
Hey all, there will be many different opinions found on this forum but let’s keep it respectful. If you feel someone has stepped over a line, or has been hostile or off topic, please flag the post rather than biting back and letting disagreements escalate. Thanks.
Note please that I am not talking about WA in particular, and I don’t think I am ill informed, I just remember when there used to be a lot more research and better pest and disease control than there is now, it is my opinion after seeing the decline of pest and disease management over the years in every state of Australia.
I’m certainly not here to offend anyone but happy to discuss the facts and science which if someone doesn’t agree with should be at all offended. They are also entitled to their opinions.
My reply to the thread was about the SHB and cane toad in WA but my opinion is that there is sadness in the cut back of pest and disease control in every state both at state and the federal government level.
My comment that there is a lack of logical thinking is that isolating hives won’t stop SHB beetle from moving further South towards Perth. Don’t misunderstand me please, I haven’t said that it is only the WA government only that are not putting enough funding into research.
As I have said earlier there was a time you couldn’t take fruit or vegetable from one state to another, cattle had to go thru a drench at state borders and when leaving known tick ‘hot spots’ but due to the costs, I guess, it was stopped. It wasn’t stopped because it didn’t work.
Inspected today to see what the colony did with the frames I donated. No new queen cups - Just capped brood (most likely from previous donated eggs/larvae), larvae of various stages and… eggs. Queen must have been on mating flight last I inspected.
That’s right, we have ‘proof of life’. I inspected a handful of other frames and could see eggs and newly hatched larvae.
Took photos of 1 frame only, this is the best I came up with:
Left side of frame had eggs and larvae:
Egg (might try using flash next to illuminate inside the cells next time)
Larvae in various stages:
Capped brood:
Only inspected 5 frames, then closed her up quickly to let the colony do its thing.
Fantastic news @fffffred, well done! Thank you for the photos too, very nice.
Good to see the pics Fred, proof what you are doing you are doing well mate and that hive is going great. Thanks for the update.
Cheers
Your photo of the eggs looks fine. No need to use the flash. That being said, of you want to try and get a better image try rotating or tilting the frame to affect the shadow. That will help more than the flash…
Inspected both boxes on Sat. Just lifted out half the brood frames from each broodbox and was happy with what I saw.
Super on original hive is chock full of honey and the colony is super strong.
Extracted 2 frames to keep them busy. Will extract a few more frames next weekend. Added to my sting count whlist extracting 
Is it too late in the season to do a pre-emptive swarm split? Or should I cycle some old brood frames out into an added super on top - with the view to strain and render after broods have emerged? What other methods are there for population control before autumn/winter hits?
Well done fffffred!
Good photos Fred and well done mate.
In my area at the moment with the Spring weather, lots of pollen and nectar coming into the hives and recent rains the bees here are really behaving like it is Spring and the swarming season and I’m doing preemptive swarm splits.
The options are there and I would be guided by others in your area as to what would be the best move there. Considerations as to when your colonies will decide Winter is on its way and they will begin to boot the drones out and to reduce the colony size is something to think about. Cycling out older brood frames is always a good move in keeping good hive health.
But why are you thinking of doing a preemptive split at this time of the season, are you getting signs like queen cells being made or just on the strength of the colonies?
Cheers
I only saw one queen cup (in the less stronger hive), but it was just a play cup and not charged.
It’s mainly the latter of your statement. My concern is colony strength at the moment. It is far stronger than I expected - space in the hive looks tight. Queen was laying brood on the burr comb stuck to underside of queen excluder.
That’s my thought too, it’s getting a bit late. But if I wait to start seeing queen cells… I may be too late. 
Hi Fred, if I see brood in comb under the QE, generally drones, to me that’s a sign that a colony is thinking about swarming. In fact I saw that this morning, sure enough they were ready to swarm with lots of queen cells throughout the brood. I removed all the brood frames bar one that only had a few eggs with some young larvae in it. I replaced the 8 brood frames with fresh foundation.
What really prompted me to look in was the large number of idle bees occupying the roof space.
I have 4 other colonies to check on in the morning. They had idle bees up in the roof, but not as many. But enough for me to not want to put it off any longer.
The thing is: a lot of bees were emerging while I was removing the brood frames & placing them into other colonies. Those emerging bees are what exacerbates the issue. The number of idle bees in the roof just gets larger.
My theory is that the idle bees are conserving their energy in readiness for the imminent swarm event.
Thanks @JeffH. I lifted and roof and had the whole colony staring at me…the whole roof space was filled with them… hmmm, better roll my sleeves up next weekend…
need to get more hive ware 
Anyone in Perth want some spare brood frames?
Hi Fred, reading your reply and Jeff’s advice I would be looking at doing a split ASAP. Bees hanging about in the roof, larvae in the burr comb, all that is saying the colony is at or near the maximum capacity for the hive.
Ok, Fred, it is February but maybe your having another Spring in the bees minds. I definately am here, I have been burning the mid-night oil making up new brood boxes for splits, really busy doing that and at the apiary second guessing which hives to split to weaken them out.
Cheers
Hi Fred, I got down to where I did that split yesterday to look at 3 of the 4 hives I wanted to check on this morning. As I was lighting my smoker at just after 6 am, the one I did yesterday issued a massive swarm before taking off into the distance & out of sight. It was ready to swarm & no amount of taking brood frames was going to stop it. Yesterday I was geared up for taking honey. If I had a spare brood box yesterday I would have taken brood plus a lot of the bees, especially the ones out of the roof. In that case I probably could have stopped them.
I brought home 2 x10 frame brood boxes chock-a-block full of bees & brood from the 3 hives I wanted to check on, because they were also preparing to swarm, however not as advanced.
I agree with @Peter48, waiting til the weekend might be too long.
Even though I’ll make 6 splits out of those two 10 frame boxes full of bees & brood, it’s still hard to watch a large swarm fade into the distance. As I found out, they don’t always swarm, then land in a convenient spot for us to recapture them.
I think Jeff and Peter are absolutely right Fred. I wouldn’t wait any longer. The bees always surprise with the speed they get things going when the conditions suit them. Sometimes for months they seem to do nothing, then in a week or two the hive explodes.
I think if you find a lot of drones and queen cells, your only option is to split asap. Another option would have been to add another brood box and give them room to expand.
My theory is that single 8-frame brood boxes, may be a bit two small for a typical colony. A single 10-frame gives them more room. A full depth box, plus another smaller one above may be the perfect volume if using 8-frame boxes. No science behind that, just my suspicion.