Where HiveCast AI Stands — And What 42 Days Without Treatment Really Means
Research-Led, Field-Tested.
For those following the journey of HiveCast AI and Pure Coastal Honey, it has been a while since we’ve shared a proper update.
The truth is, the last few months have been some of the hardest we’ve faced as beekeepers.
Like many across Australia, we’ve been navigating the reality of Varroa Destructor. It has changed the way we manage bees, changed the way we think about honey production, and in many ways changed the emotional side of beekeeping itself.
Instead of focusing purely on harvests and growth, much of our energy has gone into simply keeping colonies alive and healthy.
But amongst all of that, something important has emerged.
Introducing HiveCast AI Properly
HiveCast AI began from frustration.
We wanted more than a standard weather forecast. We wanted something designed specifically for beekeepers — a system that understood humidity, rainfall, forage conditions, inspection suitability, small hive beetle pressure, and eventually varroa management pressure.
What started as a simple idea has slowly evolved into a working platform now being tested across real apiaries in Northern New South Wales.
Today, HiveCast AI can assist with:
Inspection suitability forecasting
Small hive beetle risk awareness
Treatment timing support
Apiary planning
Weather-driven hive management
Environmental condition tracking
Microclimate differences between apiaries
Treatment suitability forecasting
Most importantly, it is being built from real-world observations — not laboratory conditions.
Every adjustment, warning, and forecast is shaped by what we are actually seeing in the field.
Not perfect textbook hives.
Real apiaries dealing with mud, floods, beetles, mites, and difficult decisions.
The Reality With Our Bees
This season has been brutal.
We’ve dealt with:
Heavy small hive beetle pressure
Extended wet weather
Rising varroa loads
Colony losses across the region
The emotional and financial pressure of ongoing treatments
At times, modern beekeeping feels less about producing honey and more about managing survival.
Most people only see the finished jar on the shelf.
They don’t see the constant inspections, treatment rotations, monitoring, moving hives between sites, or the uncertainty many Australian beekeepers are now facing.
The Resistant Strain Changing Everything
Just as Australian beekeepers were beginning to adapt to varroa management, another challenge emerged — resistant strains of varroa mites.
In early 2026, pyrethroid-resistant varroa mites were confirmed in parts of Northern NSW and South-East Queensland. These resistant mites significantly reduce the effectiveness of pyrethroid-based treatments such as Bayvarol and Apistan.
More concerning again, amitraz resistance has also begun emerging in some affected apiaries, raising concerns around the long-term effectiveness of treatments such as Apivar and Apitraz.
For many Australian beekeepers, this was a major wake-up call.
For years, resistance was something we watched happen overseas.
Now it is here.
And it changes the conversation completely.
The industry is no longer simply asking:
“What treatment should I use?”
We are now asking:
“How do we preserve the treatments we still have left?”
That means treatment timing, monitoring, rotation strategies, and environmental conditions are becoming more important than ever before.
42 Days After Bayvarol
One of the most significant things we’ve observed recently was reaching 42 days without requiring another treatment following a Bayvarol rotation.
To non-beekeepers, that may not sound important.
But in Australian beekeeping during 2026, it absolutely is.
Varroa populations can rebound incredibly fast under the right conditions. Warm temperatures, active brood cycles, and strong colonies can create ideal breeding conditions for mites.
Making it 42 days before treatment pressure returned tells us several things:
The initial treatment achieved a strong knockdown
Colony strength matters
Brood patterns heavily influence mite growth
Environmental conditions affect pressure buildup
Monitoring is critical
It also reinforces a difficult reality:
There is no silver bullet anymore.
Successful beekeeping now depends on timing, monitoring, integrated pest management, and adapting to changing conditions.
Smarter Treatment Planning
One of the areas we are putting significant focus into is treatment planning.
Not all varroa treatments are suitable under all weather conditions.
Some treatments can become harsher during higher temperatures.
Some become less effective during unstable weather.
Others may place additional stress on colonies already struggling through humidity, rain events, or nutritional pressure.
For example, certain formic acid treatments can carry increased risks during warmer conditions, while prolonged wet weather can also affect colony behaviour and treatment timing.
HiveCast AI is being developed to help identify these environmental risks before treatments are applied.
Rather than simply showing a weather forecast, the platform attempts to match:
Temperature trends
Humidity
Rainfall
Inspection suitability
Colony stress conditions
against treatment planning decisions.
The goal is not to replace beekeeper judgement.
The goal is to help avoid situations where treatments are applied during conditions that may increase colony stress, reduce effectiveness, or create unnecessary risk.
As resistant varroa strains continue to emerge in Australia, treatment timing and treatment preservation are becoming increasingly critical.
The industry is moving away from reactive beekeeping —
and toward informed, condition-based management.
That is one of the core directions HiveCast AI is being built around.
Still in Beta — But Already Helping
HiveCast AI remains in beta.
There are still bugs.
Still improvements to make.
Still features under development.
But what excites us most is that it is already helping guide real-world decisions in our own apiaries.
There have already been moments where:
HiveCast advised avoiding inspections — and rain arrived exactly as forecast
Elevated beetle pressure warnings matched field observations
Forecast trends reinforced decisions we were already considering as beekeepers
Treatment planner recommendations aligned with real apiary conditions
That is where we believe the future lies:
Combining beekeeper experience with environmental intelligence.
Looking Ahead
This journey has been exhausting at times.
Financially.
Emotionally.
Physically.
But despite everything, we still believe in bees.
We still believe local beekeeping matters.
And we still believe Australian beekeepers can adapt to this new era.
HiveCast AI is our attempt to contribute something positive back to the industry during one of the biggest challenges modern Australian beekeeping has ever faced.
We are not building this from an office disconnected from the field.
We are building it while standing in the middle of the same conditions many Australian beekeepers are facing right now.
And this is only the beginning.