Apiary Work and Hive Handling SWMS

For commercial and hobby beekeepers, apiary contractors and farm workers who inspect and manage hives. It follows the work from planning and allergy checks through driving, smoker use, hive inspection, lifting, treatments and sting response to closing up. Moving hives on trucks is separate work.

Apiary work is not high risk construction work, so a SWMS is legally required only where the work is part of high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 299); otherwise this works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment that you tailor to your apiary. If the work is part of construction work, tick the reg 291 items that apply.

New to SWMS? Read What Is A Safe Work Method Statement?

What Is Covered In Our Apiary Work and Hive Handling SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the day, check the weather, fire danger and who is at risk of stings” to “Close up the hives, secure the site and leave”. The hazards and controls include:

• Multiple stings and defensive colonies
• Severe allergic reaction after a sting
• Smoker burns and grass fire
• Heavy lifting of boxes and supers
• Dropped boxes and crushed hands
• Rollover and crash on bush tracks
• Hive treatment chemical contact
• Heat stress in a bee suit
• Snake, tick and ant bites
• Working alone in remote apiaries

High Risk Construction Work

None of the high risk construction work items (WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 291) are pre-ticked, because this job is not high risk construction work by itself. Tick any that apply on your site.

Licences, Training and Competency

• Beekeeping experience or supervised training in hive handling and bee behaviour, recorded by the PCBU
• First aid certificate for workers expected to give first aid, with training in responding to severe allergic reactions; an adequate number of trained first aiders or access to them (WHS Regulation s 42)
• Training in the safe use of the smoker, hive tools and any lifting aid or vehicle used
• Driver licence of the class for each vehicle used; training in the safe use of any quad bike or side-by-side used to reach apiaries
• Information for workers on stings, allergic reactions and what to do, and a way for workers to tell the PCBU about severe allergies in confidence
• Biosecurity and registration requirements for beekeepers checked with the relevant Queensland authority (not covered by the law library)

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Rural Plant Code of Practice 2024
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021: outdoor and remote modules, and Appendix E (extra equipment for severe allergies)
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021 (remote or isolated work)
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Managing the risk of fatigue at work (model code, not approved in Queensland; guidance only)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (13 A4 landscape pages). Type your business, client and job details once and they fill in on every page, with a space for your logo
• 9 job steps for this work, each with its hazards, controls, initial and residual risk scores and the person responsible
• PPE listed for this job: bee suit or jacket with a hood and veil, in good repair, with sleeves and legs sealed at the wrists and ankles; gloves that suit the task, and boots worn with the trouser legs over the tops
• Emergency arrangements for: many stings, or a person stung in the mouth or throat and smoker or grass fire
• Plus the parts every Work Safety QLD SWMS shares, from the s 291 checklist to the worker sign-on sheet (see the layout in our free SWMS template)

Adjust it for your site, plant and crew, and talk it through with your workers before work starts. Please make sure you read our Disclaimer before downloading this SWMS.

Checked against the Queensland laws and codes of practice listed above. Last reviewed November 2026.