- Beekeeping in New South Wales: Registration, Varroa and Swarm Calls Skip to main content For New South Wales beekeepers # Beekeeping in New South Wales: registration, varroa and swarm calls 788 honey bee swarms have been reported to us across New South Wales, and there are 464 beekeepers signed up with us in the whole state to answer them. 630 Swarms reported in the last 12 months 84 Statistical areas with reports 464 Beekeepers registered with Swarmed here 1.7 Reports per registered beekeeper Get New South Wales swarm alerts Free, and you do not have to join an association to be on the list. ## Registering as a beekeeper in New South Wales Registration is compulsory in every Australian state and territory, hobbyist or commercial, and it starts at your first hive. There is no backyard exemption anywhere in the country. In New South Wales you register with NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development under the Biosecurity Act 2015 (NSW), and a registration runs for two years before it needs renewing. Registration is compulsory from your first hive, hobbyist or commercial, and is renewed through Service NSW.
- Hives must be frame hives with movable frames, so a fixed-comb or log hive cannot be registered.
- Records of hives lost, stolen or destroyed must be kept for five years.

 Every state has adopted the Australian Honey Bee Industry Biosecurity Code of Practice, a nationally consistent set of minimum standards covering hive construction, how often you inspect, and what you are obliged to report. Registration is what makes you reachable when something is found near you.

## Varroa in New South Wales

 Varroa was first detected at the Port of Newcastle in June 2022 and New South Wales is where it became established. Treatment-resistant varroa was confirmed here in early 2026.

 National eradication was abandoned in September 2023, and the transition to management programme ended in February 2026. That changes what catching a swarm means: a swarm is no longer just free bees, it is an unscreened colony arriving next to yours.

 Restrictions on catching swarms have been lifted across New South Wales, but only for registered beekeepers, and a caught swarm should be surveilled for varroa immediately rather than treated as a free colony.

## When swarms happen in New South Wales

 New South Wales swarm reports peak in September, and 64% of everything reported here arrives between September and December. Australia's season is the inverse of the northern one, so advice written for a northern spring is six months out by the time it reaches you.

 Reports have come in from 84 separate statistical areas across New South Wales, so this is not one busy suburb standing in for a state.

## Getting swarm calls without joining a waiting list

 We pass every reported swarm to nearby beekeepers by text or email, at no cost and with no association membership required. You set the area you are willing to travel and the size of swarm you will take.

 The 788 New South Wales reports above are not a marketing figure. Each one came from someone who found bees and wanted a beekeeper to collect them, and with 464 of us across the state, most of those calls have very little competition.

 [Get New South Wales swarm alerts](/auth/beekeeper-signup)

## Sources

- NSW DPIRD, beekeeper registration
- NSW DPI, varroa transition to management

 Registration and varroa details last checked against these sources on 2026-08-26. Varroa status changes; confirm with NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Developmentbefore acting on anything here. Swarm report figures are from Swarmed's own network and update daily.

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