Managing caught swarms in the
presence of Varroa

September 2025, 1st edition
Author Nadine Chapman, National Training & Education Coordinator, NVMMP,
and Emily Noordyke, Technical Officer, NVMMP

With Varroa spreading across Australia it is more important than ever to ensure caught swarms do not impact the health of other hives. This factsheet covers best practice for management of caught swarms in areas with Varroa. Note that Varroa may be present without you being aware; ensure you regularly conduct surveillance.

Swarms can be lured to swarm catch boxes (bait hives) which are left in an area or may be collected from where they land and placed into a hive.

The Australian Honey Bee Industry Code of Practice recommends that any captured bee swarms are not introduced to an apiary until they have been appropriately inspected and tested for diseases. This is good practice to reduce the risk of introducing pests and diseases into your apiary, which may spread to your existing hives. It is best to isolate caught swarms for at least three months.

Photo: NSW DPIRD

Other best management practices include:

  • Allowing the new colony to settle in the hive for at least a few days before conducting an alcohol wash, soapy water wash or sugar shake to determine the mite load

  • If Varroa is present, use integrated pest management principles to manage it depending on the mite load; at low mite loads use mechanical controls, at higher mite loads chemical control may be required. Given there is no brood or supers present, this may be a good opportunity to use miticides that cannot be used with supers or that have low efficacy when there is brood

  • Three weeks after placing the swarm in the hive or catching the swarm in the swarm catch box (when brood will be present) conduct a pest and disease inspection of the brood and manage any pests and diseases accordingly. If the hive has American foulbrood the bees must be destroyed, some hive components can be kept if they are irradiated

  • Continue to check the mite load every 3-6 weeks, conducting monitoring more frequently when there is brood, particularly drone brood, there are many unmanaged hives in the area, or high mite loads in the area.

Feral colony in a lounge
Photo: Patrick Kohl

Additionally, if using a swarm catch box the Australian Honey Bee Industry Code of Practice requires the following:

  • It must only contain foundation. Frames already drawn or that contain brood, honey or pollen are not permitted

  • It must be maintained so as to have intact external surfaces with bee access only permitted via specifically designed and manufactured access points

  • A swarm catch box that is not on the property where the beekeeper normally resides must also be identified with the beekeeper’s name or company name and a contact telephone number, in characters at least 25 mm in height

  • Details of movements of swarm catch boxes, including dates, numbers, and geographic locations much be kept.

An alternative to catching swarms is to make ‘cut-outs’ of existing feral colonies. These may be in tree hollows or human-made cavities such as roofs. The above principles apply to cut-outs. However, as brood will be present you will not need to wait three weeks to conduct a pest and disease inspection on the brood. It is still advisable to give the newly housed colony a few days to settle down before conducting an alcohol wash, soapy water wash or sugar shake to determine mite load and performing a pest and disease inspection.