New members are swarming to beekeeping clubs

Beekeepers warn of popular hobby: "It's not just 'put a hive in your backyard and forget about it'."

AMATEUR beekeeping clubs are being swarmed with aspiring keepers and reports suggest it's prompted some beekeeping societies to cap their membership numbers.

President of the Northern Rivers Branch of the Amateur Beekeepers Association (ABA), Robert Stone, said the branch had grown substantially this year.

He said he supposed the increased popularity could partly be attributed to the local invention, Flow Hive.

"It's probably split both ways, you get the traditional people as well as the flow hive people."

The Northern Rivers branch (based from Grafton to the Queensland border) has around 200 members, with many living in the Lismore and Ballina area.

Mr Stone said it was growing all the time as the third biggest in New South Wales, with at least 50 additional people joining this year.

"There is a lot more ladies joining the club and it was traditionally the older gentlemen but now it ranges right from the 20 year olds up to 80 years olds who have been doing it for years."

Flow Hive was invented by Northern Rivers father and son duo, Cedar and Stuart Anderson - marking three generations of beekeepers.

A crowd-funding campaign early 2015 raised $16 million which enabled their business to go global.

It remains one of the most successful crowd-funding campaigns in history and almost 50,000 hives have since been shipped to 130 different countries.

Since then, beekeeping has grown in popularity particularly with younger generations.

But it has brought concerns some keepers were not properly monitoring for diseases, as the device allows honey to be extracted without opening the hive.

Mr Stone said with beetle season kicking off, disease and pest management were important things to stay on top of this season.

"The number one thing above all else is if you don't have a happy healthy hive you don't have anything.

"The honey is by-product for us to take advantage of ... if you haven't got a hive you haven't got honey.

"Luckily we haven't got the mite from America yet...we are the only country in the world who hasn't.

"There are stations along the coast that look out for feral hives that have come in on ships.

"Wax moths and all the diseases, particularly American Fowlbrood, are another thing to stay on top of.

"These are things to look out for: it's not just set up a hive and away you go."

He said the ABA branch supports everyone who wants to have bees and welcomes new members whether they are experienced beekeepers or newcomers.

"We try to teach them best habits and a club is the best place to start so people shouldn't be turned away from clubs, they should be trying to get them all in so we can teach them about bees.

"It's not just 'put a hive in your backyard and forget about it'."

The club was all about support, Mr Stone said, with short courses on offer along with help from other members.

"We are looking at opening a buddy program so people can have someone to help them out and living close by they can pop over if they need a hand."