Welcome to Yarra Valley Bee Group

The Yarra Valley Bee group is a not for profit community group with an emphasis on sustainable and natural beekeeping.

We support local beekeepers by facilitating monthly educational talks, workshops, field trips, mentor programs, book and equipment libraries and the Yarra Valley Honey co op, which makes local backyard honey available for our community. We also run educational programs for schools and other community groups, and maintain a live community hive on site at Yarra Valley Ecoss.

Come along and keep up to date with local conditions that effect your hive, connect with other beekeepers, share resources, improve your apiary skills and learn more about honeybee ecology.

Monthly meetings are usually the last Sunday of the month. Check out our events page for more.

For assistance with swarm collection, abandoned hives or other honeybee issues visit our bee removal page

Events
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September YV Bee Group Meeting
Sep
27
September YV Bee Group Meeting
ECOSS
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
1.30 for a 2pm start 2pm - Whats happening in my hive?  Speaker: Bernhard Dichtl -  (YVBee group member and VarroaMate) Getting Ready for Varroa: Building Your IPM Toolbox The coming season will likely be a challenging one, and many of us will find mites in our hives. This talk is about putting together a proper toolbox for integrated pest management. Rather than leaning on one or two treatments, a beekeeper who has a variety of tools ready, and knows how to deploy and rotate them, will be far better placed to keep hives healthy and thriving. What we will cover: - Queen confinement in plastic isolation cages to generate brood breaks and a phoretic treatment window - Three ways to trap mites in drone comb and how to pair it with oxalic acid or heat treatment - Mite trapping in worker brood using metal frame cages or brood nest partitioning - Maximising Varroa Controller (heat treatment) efficacy by combining it with oxalic acid - Formic acid and the Nassenheider evaporator, and how German beekeepers put it to use The presentation will cover both the biological foundations of individual approaches and demonstrate how to put those into practice.   Join us and keep up to date with local conditions that effect your hive, connect with other beekeepers, share resources, improve your apiary skills and learn more about honeybee ecology. Non members are welcome too. Meetings are held at ECOSS, 711 Old Warburton Road, Wesburn, in the ‘Coop’ (past the old house, over the green, down the bottom). Gold coin donation appreciated. 
October YVBG Meeting
Oct
25
October YVBG Meeting
ECOSS
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
1.30 for a 2pm start 2pm - Whats happening in my hive?  Topics to be confirmed. Join us and keep up to date with local conditions that effect your hive, connect with other beekeepers, share resources, improve your apiary skills and learn more about honeybee ecology. Non members are welcome too. Meetings are held at ECOSS, 711 Old Warburton Road, Wesburn, in the ‘Coop’ (past the old house, over the green, down the bottom). Gold coin donation appreciated. 
November YVBG Meeting
Nov
29
November YVBG Meeting
ECOSS
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
1.30 for a 2pm start 2pm - Whats happening in my hive?  Topics to be confirmed. Join us and keep up to date with local conditions that effect your hive, connect with other beekeepers, share resources, improve your apiary skills and learn more about honeybee ecology. Non members are welcome too. Meetings are held at ECOSS, 711 Old Warburton Road, Wesburn, in the ‘Coop’ (past the old house, over the green, down the bottom). Gold coin donation appreciated. 

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