Backyard beekeepers in Hobart are celebrating after council removed a regulation which enforced a 50-metre buffer zone between beehives and neighbouring properties

ABOUT 40 per cent of the Victorian honey bee hives used for almond pollination have been unavailable this season after being struck with nosema disease. Trevor Monson, from Monsons Honey and Pollination, co-ordinates 97,000 hives from 165 apiarists, of which about 25 per cent are from Victoria, for 18 Robinvale almond orchards from July to September. Mr Monson likened this season’s loss to

Bees have swarmed into the homes of marsupials in central Victoria, kicking them out and leading a local group to set up an emergency crowdfunding page to re-hive them.

Bees are the new chickens in Australia. They might not be your standard household pets, but city dwellers are reaping the rewards of the latest urban trend­ – beekeeping. Beekeeping in city backyards is becoming commonplace as locals fight to maintain the population of the globally threatened insect.