For Victoria beekeepers
223 honey bee swarms have been reported to us across Victoria, and there are 56 beekeepers signed up with us in the whole state to answer them.
Free, and you do not have to join an association to be on the list.
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 Victoria you register with Agriculture Victoria under the Livestock Disease Control Act 1994 (Vic), and a registration runs for annual before it needs renewing.
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 is present in Victoria. Resistance to both major synthetic treatment groups was confirmed in May 2026 at an apiary in the north-east of the state.
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.
A swarm caught in Victoria should be quarantined and monitored before it goes near an existing apiary, because a resistant mite population will not respond to the strip treatment most hobbyists reach for first.
Victoria swarm reports peak in October, and 88% 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 60 separate statistical areas across Victoria, so this is not one busy suburb standing in for a state.
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 223 Victoria reports above are not a marketing figure. Each one came from someone who found bees and wanted a beekeeper to collect them, and with 56 of us across the state, most of those calls have very little competition.
Registration and varroa details last checked against these sources on 2026-08-26. Varroa status changes; confirm with Agriculture Victoriabefore acting on anything here. Swarm report figures are from Swarmed's own network and update daily.