Just received confirmation that my Flow Hive is on its way to me - very exciting!
Got my beekeepers license and made contact with the local professional - so far, so good.
I have the winter to get through but that will give me time to get everything sorted.
I’m a complete and total novice - I’m a ships Captain by profession so starting cold!
We have a 20 acre ‘hobby’ farm here in the hills (about 65km from Melbourne) and have lived here for 30 years. I have noticed a lot of wild bee activity over the years and there a re plenty of trees with tell-tale signs of bees and honey.
I have always admired bees for their work ethics - nobody could work harder than a very busy bee!
really looking forward to this adventure!
vbrgds
Rob
2 Likes
Welcome to the Group Rob, you might be a novice but getting your license and hooking up with someone in the know is an important first step, great to have you onboard.
Out of curiosity more than anything else a license? Is this unique to Victoria or all of Australia requires it? At a curiosity also what other countries require license? The US does not and actually my understanding there are laws on the books that state, there can’t be restrictions put in place for someone to be a beekeeper. There can be some annoyance laws put in place i.e. annoy the neighbors disruption to the community but in general cannot keep someone from being a beekeeper on their property.
Hi Marty, different states in Australia have different rules and laws. Victoria and NSW require a Beekeepers license which is valid for 1 or 2 years. The cost goes back into biosecurity and educational or compliance officers. It is an offence not to be licensed to have bees and you can be fined or have your hives confiscated if you are a repeat offender. Compliance will burn your hives if you have been found with a disease such as AFB and you failed to notify or do anything about it. Pretty strict huh!