As a beekeeper, you're part of a dedicated community working together to maintain healthy hives and protect Western Australia's bee populations. By following best practices and meeting your responsibilities under the BAM Act, you help prevent the spread of diseases and pests, ensuring that all beekeepers can thrive.
These simple steps not only protect your hives but also support your fellow beekeepers in keeping the bee population strong and resilient. By registering, identifying hives, and practicing good biosecurity - such as keeping hives clean and monitoring for pests - beekeepers help safeguard not only their own bees but the wider beekeeping community.
These efforts prevent the spread of diseases and pests, which is crucial for protecting fellow beekeepers, pollination dependent industries, and the natural environment. This legislation isn’t about making things harder - it’s about working together to strengthen and safeguard bee populations, whether you're a commercial beekeeper or an enthusiastic hobbyist.
Beekeeper registration
Under the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management legislation, beekeepers in Western Australia must register themselves and ensure their hives are properly identified, similar to other livestock. This helps track the movement of hives and manage the spread of pests and diseases. Beekeepers are also responsible for maintaining good biosecurity practices, such as keeping hives clean and monitoring for pests.
Any person keeping honey bees in WA is legally required to register as a beekeeper with the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, regardless of:
- the number of hives
- the type of hives (including observation hives, nucleus hives, top bar hives, Warre hives, and flow hives)
- the purpose for keeping honey bees, whether for hobby, commercial purposes, or pollination services.
Understanding the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act
The Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act 2007 (BAM Act) is a crucial piece of legislation in Western Australia that helps protect our economy, environment and way of life. It focuses on keeping harmful pests, weeds, and diseases out of the state, ensuring the safe use of agricultural chemicals, and maintaining high standards for agricultural products. The BAM Act encourages everyone - from landholders to community members - to actively participate in safeguarding our biosecurity. By working together, we can create a healthier, safer, and more sustainable future for all. You can view the BAM Act on the Legislation WA website.
Once registered, beekeepers are assigned a hive brand (provided on your Certificate of Registration and hive brand card) that must be applied to all hives, including brood boxes and honey supers. To comply with the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management (Identification and Movement of Stock and Apiaries) Regulations 2013, your brand must:
- be burnt, stamped, carved, or scored into the surface of each brood box and super so that it is clearly impressed below the surface.
- ensure that each character (letters and numerals) of the brand must be at least 12 mm in height, aligned but not conjoined.
You must apply your hive brand within 7 days of acquiring a hive. If purchasing a hive from another registered beekeeper, your brand should be applied directly below the previous owner’s brand, with the old brand struck out using a clean, straight line (burnt, carved, or scored), ensuring it remains legible. For further details, refer to Regulations 202 and 203 on hive identification within the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management legislation.
Regular inspections of brood and honey frames are necessary to ensure hives remain free of pests and diseases. For proper inspections, all hives must have easily and individually removable frames to allow for thorough examinations of the comb.
Beekeepers are required to maintain records of apiary sites, movements, sales, and introductions of bees for 7 years. These records must be provided to biosecurity inspectors upon request.
If bees are kept on land not owned by the beekeeper, the apiary must have clear, legible signage with:
- your full name
- your telephone number
- your registered hive brand
- the street address of your place of residence or business.
The sign must be kept near the hives and be positioned to be clearly visible to all people approaching the apiary.
A beekeeper can only sell lease, supply or dispose of a bee hive or nucleus hive to another person if they are a registered bee keeper.
Beekeepers must record:
- the person's name and postal address
- their registered hive brand, having confirmed by reference to the online register, that the person is the registered owner of the brand and having made a written record of that confirmation.
These records must be kept for 7 years.
Preventing robbing bees is essential to minimising the spread of diseases and pests. Beekeepers must ensure bees do not gain access to:
- infected beekeeping components and equipment
- dead out or weak hives
- bee products like, honey and beeswax.
A person who owns, or has the charge, care or possession of, bees or any hive that contains, or has contained, bees must not:
- store, or cause to be stored, a hive unless the entrance to the hive is closed
- expose used hives, combs or honey in such a manner as may attract bees to rob from the hives, combs or honey
- store hive products in a way that attracts declared pests to breed and develop in them.
By following these guidelines, beekeepers play a crucial role in protecting the health of their bees and the broader beekeeping community.
Neglected and abandoned beehives are at risk of becoming diseased and becoming a source of uncontrolled and severe infection to other honey bee colonies. Beekeepers are encouraged to report possible incidents of neglected beehives, robbing or abandoned beehives to a DPIRD Apiary Inspector.
Note: Always ensure observations are made from outside the apiary and avoid trespassing. Reports must be in writing stating the reasons why you consider the apiary to be neglected and the date the neglect was observed. Include your name and the location of the apiary.
If an inspector is satisfied on reasonable grounds that bees, hives or beekeeping equipment are abandoned or neglected, the inspector make undertake various regulator actions to protect local bee colonies.
All bee products imported to WA from another state or territory (domestically) must comply with WA Import Requirements (H02).
Strict border quarantine helps to keep WA’s honey bees healthy. It is illegal to bring bees and bee products including honey and pollen and used beekeeping equipment into WA without meeting import conditions and/or treatments.
For further information on importing bee products into Western Australia from other States or Territories please can contact Quarantine WA.
International Imports
International imports are regulated by the Australian Government. Further information is available via the Australian Biosecurity Import Conditions.
Any consignment of beehive material that has been imported into a state/territory other than WA from overseas and is being introduced into WA must meet WA domestic import requirements (H02) or be imported under permit.
Reporting bee pests or diseases
Reporting is not just a legal obligation; it's crucial for safeguarding your hives and nearby colonies. Early detection gives us the best chance to eradicate pests and diseases. By following best practices and reporting promptly, we can protect Western Australia’s healthy bee populations and stop the spread of harmful pests and diseases.
Examples of exotic and/or declarable bee pests in WA include:
- Small hive beetle (restricted to WA’s Kimberley region)
- Varroa mites
- European foulbrood
- American foulbrood.
Examples of exotic bees include:
- Red dwarf honey bee
- Asian honey bee
- Giant honey bee
- Bumblebees.
Related Links
Contact Us
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Plant Biosecurity Honey Bee Group