Commercial beekeeper inspecting a hive in a Queensland apiary

OZBEE Trade

Commercial beekeeping supplies for Queensland

Beetle traps, feeders, varroa monitoring and treatment, queen excluders, frames and honey handling gear for working apiaries — quoted for your hive count, supplied through Gladstone and delivered across Queensland.

How many hives do you run?

01

Quoted for your operation

No price lists built for hobbyists. Tell us your hive count and what you need, and we price the whole order for the quantity you actually buy.

02

One order, one delivery

Pest control, feeding, hive parts, frames and harvest gear on a single quote — instead of four suppliers and four freight bills.

03

Queensland stock

Supplied at our Gladstone store in Central Queensland, without an extra southern warehouse leg.

04

A person, not a portal

Your quote is prepared by someone who knows beekeeping equipment and will tell you what fits the boxes you already run.

Trade quotes

How getting a quote works

  1. Tell us about your operation

    Your hive count, 8 or 10 frame, where you are in Queensland and when you need the equipment.

  2. Choose what you need

    Tick the products below and add rough quantities. Not sure how many? We suggest quantities using your hive count and you can change them.

  3. We send your quote

    You get pricing for the whole order, with delivery or pickup options. No obligation, and no account needed to ask.

Start my quote

Pest control

Small hive beetle control for Queensland hives

Small hive beetle is one of the most persistent problems Queensland beekeepers deal with, and warm, humid weather suits it. Adult beetles hide in corners and gaps where bees cannot reach them and lay eggs in the comb. In a strong colony the bees keep numbers down. In a weak or queenless colony, or in supers left sitting in a shed, larvae can ferment honey and slime out comb within days.

Across a whole apiary, traps are the simplest way to keep beetle pressure down between inspections. They do not replace strong colonies, but they take beetles out of the hive before numbers build.

Beetle catcher traps

Beetle catcher traps

Reusable, transparent traps that sit between frames. Bees chase beetles in; beetles cannot climb out. Clear plastic means you can see at a glance which traps are full.

Suggested: 2 per hive

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Getting the most out of beetle traps across an apiary

  • Two per hive is a common starting point in humid districts — one toward each outer frame.
  • Clear traps at every inspection. A full trap stops catching.
  • Keep a spare set. Swapping a full trap for a clean one is faster in the field than cleaning it on the spot.
  • Do not rely on traps to reduce a weak hive. Combine or requeen weak colonies — traps support strong ones.
  • Protect stored comb. Extracted supers stacked in a warm shed are an easy target. Store them sealed and cool, or return them to strong hives.

Varroa

Varroa monitoring and treatment across an apiary

Varroa mite is now part of beekeeping in Australia, with the mite established in parts of the country. For a commercial operation the question is not whether to deal with it, but how to monitor and treat hundreds of hives without losing weeks of labour. Varroa is manageable when mite levels are checked regularly and treatments are planned ahead rather than bought in a hurry.

Check the current varroa situation and any rules for your area with Biosecurity Queensland.

Step 1 — Monitor

You cannot manage what you do not measure. A mesh bottom board with a removable surveillance board lets you check natural mite drop without opening the hive, so monitoring a whole yard takes minutes rather than a full inspection of every colony. Many beekeepers combine board checks with a periodic sugar shake or alcohol wash on a sample of hives for a closer count.

Bottom board with varroa surveillance

Bottom board with varroa surveillance

Mesh floor with a removable surveillance board. Check mite drop across a whole yard without opening hives. 8 and 10 frame.

Suggested: 1 per hive

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Step 2 — Treat when levels call for it

When monitoring shows mite levels are rising, treat. We supply varroa treatments that are APVMA registered or permitted, with different active ingredients, so you can plan treatments across the season.

  • Apivar strips — amitraz strips, supplied in a 60-strip pack for 30 hive treatments.
  • Bayvarol strips — flumethrin strips, packs of 20.
  • Formic Pro — formic acid based treatment, used under APVMA permit in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT.

Always follow the product label and any APVMA permit conditions — including dose, treatment period, temperature limits and whether honey supers can stay on during treatment. Beekeepers commonly rotate treatments with different active ingredients to reduce the risk of mites developing resistance.

Varroa treatments

Varroa treatments

Apivar, Bayvarol and Formic Pro. Tell us how many hives you plan to treat and which treatment you use, and we will quote the right pack sizes.

Suggested: Hives to treat

Planning varroa across a commercial operation

  • Monitor every yard on a schedule, not only the hives that look weak.
  • Record mite counts by yard, so you can see which sites need treatment first.
  • Order treatments before you need them. Stock of some pack sizes can run short in peak season.
  • Treat all hives in a yard together, so mites do not move from untreated colonies back into treated ones.
  • Plan around the label, including when honey supers must come off.

Feeding

Feeding many hives at once

At commercial scale, feeding is a logistics job. Colonies need support through a dearth, when building up for pollination work and after splits — and every hive in a yard needs feeding at the same visit. The right feeder is quick to fill, easy to check without lifting boxes, and practical to leave on every hive.

2L round top feeders

2L round top feeders

Sits above the brood box under the lid, so you refill without pulling frames. A 2 litre bowl supports feeding between visits, and the round design rinses out easily.

Suggested: 1 per hive

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Feeding without starting a robbing frenzy

  • Feed late in the day, when foragers are coming home rather than heading out.
  • Feed every hive in the yard together. One unfed hive next to fed ones invites robbing.
  • Do not spill syrup on the outside of boxes or on the ground.
  • Clean feeders between uses so leftover syrup does not ferment or grow mould.
  • One feeder per hive. Moving feeders between hives slows you down and spreads problems between colonies.

Hive equipment

Hive components for growing operations

Every hive in an operation needs the same core parts. Running the same components across the whole apiary means any box or excluder fits any hive — which is what makes a large operation workable in the field. Standardise first, then order in quantity.

Queen excluders

A galvanised metal excluder sits between the brood box and the honey supers. Workers pass through; the larger queen cannot, so supers stay free of brood and extraction is cleaner. Metal excluders hold their shape in Queensland heat and can be scraped clean of wax and propolis season after season.

Galvanised queen excluder (10 frame)

Galvanised queen excluder (10 frame)

Galvanised metal excluders separate the brood box and honey supers. Match the frame format to your existing equipment.

Suggested: 1 per hive

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10 frame double beehive kits

When you are adding hives rather than replacing parts, a complete kit keeps everything matched. These flat pack NZ pine kits build into a double-storey 10 frame hive, with a choice of mesh or plain bottom board, with or without frames.

10 frame double beehive kit

10 frame double beehive kit

Matched NZ pine components for new double-storey hives. Tell us your bottom board and frame requirements.

Suggested: New hives planned

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Recurring equipment

Frames and foundation

Frames are the most repeated purchase in a working apiary. They break in the field, get damaged by beetles, and old dark comb needs culling every few years to keep brood healthy.

How many frames you need

A 10 frame box holds ten frames; an 8 frame box holds eight. A double-storey 10 frame hive — brood box plus one super — needs 20 frames, and each extra super adds ten. For 100 double-storey hives that is 2,000 frames before spares.

Flat pack, assembled, or foundation fitted?

Frame typeWhat you still doBest for
Flat pack with eyeletsAssemble, and wire for wax foundationBuilding stock over winter with your own labour
Assembled and wiredFit wax foundationWax foundation users short on time
Assembled with plastic foundationNothing — straight into the boxPlastic foundation users, mid-season top-ups

Using plastic foundation? Once you count assembly time, frames with foundation already fitted are usually the most practical choice for a commercial operation. Tell us which type you run and we will quote both ways.

Full depth or ideal?

Full depth frames suit brood boxes and are what most Australian beekeepers run. Ideal frames are shallower and often used in honey supers, because a full ideal super is lighter to lift — worth thinking about when a crew is lifting supers all day. The two are not interchangeable: match the frame to the box.

Frames and foundation

Flat pack, assembled and wired, plastic foundation fitted, or foundation sheets. Match full depth or ideal to the boxes you run.

Suggested: 20 per double-storey 10 frame hive

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Harvest workflow

Honey harvest and processing equipment

At commercial volume, honey handling gear wears out, gets dropped and needs duplicating across extractors, settling tanks and buckets. A leaking gate or a split filter in the middle of extraction costs honey and time. These are the parts working apiaries replace most, and the ones worth keeping spares of.

Stainless steel honey gates

A stainless gate fits an extractor or settling tank for controlled, clean flow when filling buckets. Stainless steel does not corrode and is easy to keep food safe. With several tanks running through harvest, a spare gate on the shelf means a worn seal never stops the day.

Stainless steel honey gates

Stainless steel honey gates

Controlled flow for extractors and settling tanks, with spare gates ready for harvest.

Suggested: Tanks and extractors, plus spares

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Honey gate valves for buckets

Plastic bucket valves turn a standard honey bucket into a dispensing container — useful for bottling, decanting and selling in smaller containers. They get lost and damaged regularly, so most operations order them in quantity.

Honey gate valves

Honey gate valves

Bucket valves for decanting and bottling. Include replacements for worn fittings and your planned containers.

Suggested: Your container count

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Filtering honey in stages

Most honey is filtered twice. A coarse strainer takes out wax and bee parts first, then a finer filter clears the honey before bottling. Filtering in stages is faster than forcing honey through one fine mesh, which clogs.

Double layer stainless steel filter

Double layer stainless steel filter

Coarse and fine filtering for your extraction workflow. Include a spare set for cleaning rotations.

Suggested: Your extraction lines

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Harvest checklist

  • Test every gate on every tank before extraction day
  • One spare gate for every two tanks or extractors
  • Enough bucket valves for the containers you will fill this season
  • A clean filter set for each extraction line
  • Cheesecloth washed and dry before the first super comes in

Seasonal teams

Protective gear for your crew

You may not wear a suit any more. Your seasonal staff will.

Casual workers and new crew members have not built the tolerance an experienced beekeeper has. A badly stung new starter on day two is often a lost worker by day three. Keeping jackets, veils and gloves in a range of sizes means every new person is equipped before their first hive.

Crew protective gear

Crew protective gear

Jackets, veils and gloves for seasonal teams. Include crew numbers and sizes so each worker has suitable equipment.

Suggested: Your crew size

Central Queensland supply

Delivery across Queensland, or pickup in Gladstone

Everything on this page is supplied through our Gladstone store. Orders can be collected at Shop 2, 4 Crow Street, Gladstone, or delivered anywhere in Queensland. Your quote shows the delivery option for your town, so you see the full picture before you commit.

Putting pest control, feeding, hive parts and harvest gear on one quote keeps it to one delivery.

We supply beekeepers in Gladstone, Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Mackay, Emerald, Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and across Queensland.

Buying for resale, a club or a training program rather than your own hives? See wholesale supply.

OZBEE Trade quote

Request a trade quote

The more you tell us, the more accurate your first quote. It takes about two minutes, and there is no obligation.

Your operation
How many hives do you run? *
What you need

Suggested using the lower end of your range — adjust to suit.

Delivery and timing
Your details

We will reply by phone or email. No obligation.

Commercial beekeeping questions

Do you supply commercial beekeepers in Queensland?

Yes. We supply commercial and sideliner beekeepers across Queensland with beetle traps, feeders, queen excluders, bottom boards, hive kits, frames, harvest equipment and crew protective gear through our store in Gladstone.

How do I get a trade quote?

Fill in the quote form on this page with your hive count, what you need and your delivery town, or call +61 401 763 114. We will send pricing for your whole order.

Why is there no price list on this page?

Commercial orders vary too much for one price list to be useful. We quote each order on the quantities you need and where it is going, so the price you see is the one you pay for that order.

What information do you need for a quote?

Your hive count, 8 or 10 frame, the products and rough quantities, your delivery town or whether you will pick up, and when you need the equipment.

Do I need an ABN or a trade account to ask for a quote?

The quote form accepts an optional ABN and business name. Include those details if you have them, and tell us about your operation.

How many beetle traps do I need per hive?

Two per hive is a common starting point in humid parts of Queensland, placed toward the outer frames. Clear them at every inspection — a full trap stops catching.

How many frames do I need per hive?

A 10 frame box holds ten frames and an 8 frame box holds eight. A double-storey 10 frame hive needs 20 frames, and each additional super adds ten.

Should I order flat pack or assembled frames?

Flat pack suits operations with time to assemble over winter. If you run plastic foundation, frames with foundation already fitted go straight into the box and reduce assembly time. We can quote both.

Why use a bottom board with varroa surveillance?

The removable board under the mesh lets you check mite drop without opening the hive, which makes regular monitoring practical across a large number of hives.

How do I monitor varroa across a large number of hives?

Use bottom boards with a removable surveillance board to check mite drop without opening hives, and combine this with periodic sugar shake or alcohol wash checks on a sample of hives. Record counts by yard so you know which sites need treatment first.

Which varroa treatments do you supply?

We supply Apivar strips, Bayvarol strips and Formic Pro. Always follow the product label, and check Biosecurity Queensland for current varroa guidance in your area. Tell us how many hives you plan to treat and we will quote the right pack sizes.

Do I need to register my hives in Queensland?

Check the Queensland Government website for current beekeeper registration requirements before establishing or expanding your apiary.

Do you deliver across Queensland?

Yes. We deliver across Queensland through Gladstone. Your quote includes the delivery option for your town.

Can I pick up my order in Gladstone?

Yes. Orders can be collected at our store at Shop 2, 4 Crow Street, Gladstone.

Plan your season

Get next season's equipment quoted now

Tell us how many hives you run and when you need it. One Queensland supplier can quote beetle traps, feeders, hive parts, frames and harvest gear together.