Commercial Beekeeping in Australia
Fact sheet
Fact sheet: Plan Bee survey results – Australian queen bee production
Plan Bee, Australia’s national honey bee genetic improvement program, surveyed queen production for the 2020–21 season in order to report on the state of queen production nationally.
The survey is the first of its kind to describe values for queen and package bee sales from all major Australian beekeeping states.
Fact sheet
Fungicides and bees in canola
Funded by AgriFutures Honey Bee & Pollination Program, researchers at the University of Adelaide have investigated the impact of fungicides on bees. They found that most fungicides are relatively harmless when used on their own. However, some fungicides weaken the bees’ immune system, and mixing insecticides and fungicides is likely to result in a mix that is toxic for bees. This fact sheet provides best practice advice based on their findings for the pollination of canola. See below for links to fact sheets for fungicides and bees in almonds and fungicides and bees in apples and pears.
Report
Impact on honey bee biosecurity of reduced access to public lands
The European honey bee (Apis mellifera) is vital to more than 35 species of agricultural plants that rely on the honey bee for pollination. This economically important service is in addition to the 30,000 tonnes of honey produced in Australia each year. Public floral resources such as national parks and Crown lands are used by the industry to ensure honey bees are healthy and prepared for a pollination event, and to produce honey.
In 2019-20, approximately 15.6 million hectares of mostly public land forest resource on the east coast of Australia was impacted by bushfires. To understand the implications and impacts of these bushfires on the industry, the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC) and AgriFutures Australia developed the Bushfire Recovery Plan. One concern that became evident during development of the plan was the possibility of increased pressure on honey bee biosecurity due to fewer available floral resources.
This project assessed the impact on honey bee biosecurity of reduced access to public land floral resources as a result of the 2019-20 bushfire crisis. It investigated current biosecurity programs and practices, gaps in biosecurity coverage, beekeeper use of public lands and biosecurity risk as a result of changes in the beekeeper’s enterprise.
Gaps in the coverage of public and private biosecurity programs and practices create persistent pest and disease problems for Australian beekeepers. These problems are exacerbated by beekeepers working in closer proximity to each other, whether that is on bushfire-depleted public land, on private land needed to make up for lost public land, or at paid pollination events.
This study found that while loss of public land apiary resource as a result of the 2019-20 bushfire crisis may have been marginal at the industry level, the impacts on individual beekeepers were significant. The 2019-20 bushfire crisis contributed to overall pressure the industry is under to secure feed resources for its livestock and maintain a healthy honey bee population for honey production and pollination purposes.
Recommendations relate to fine-tuning policy pertaining to honey bee and forestry management, technology to improve honey bee biosecurity, supplementary feeding of honey bees, and future research and development investment.
Pasture legumes nurturing a sweet future for honey bees
The innovative Clover4Bees pilot study is on a mission to help the all-important honey bee.
Plan Bee researcher profile: Tiff Bates
In this profile we introduce Tiff Bates Apiary Manager for the CRCHBP at the University of Western Australia, one of the core team members of the Plan Bee program.
Fact sheet
Fungicides and bees in apple & pear
News story
Connecting the almond industry with Plan Bee
Plan Bee and the importance of honey bee genetic improvement to the productivity and value of the pollination-dependent almond industry were showcased to a broad range of stakeholders at a two-day almond conference in Victoria.
Antibody-Driven Defence: An Innovative Method for Safeguarding Honey Bees Against Varroa-Induced Viral Diseases
Rebuilding the bushfire-devastated honey bee and pollination industry: Crucial to meet agriculture’s $100 billion target and put food on Aussie plates
During the 2019-20 bushfire crisis an estimated 15.6 million hectares of Australian native forest was destroyed. This has severely compromised the industry’s $14.2 billion per year contribution to the Australian economy, from vital pollination services, and its role in delivering the National Farmers’ Federations $100 billion target by 2030. To secure the industry’s future and the food on our plates,...
Feeding strategies for sugar syrup and protein supplements, its implications on hive strength and performance with a focus on financial costs and benefits
... feeding strategies of honeybees to adapt to a changing climate and subsequent effects on the environment, particularly fire and drought. The biggest challenge that beekeepers face is the lack of floral resources and the unfamiliarity of supplementary feeding practices to support a viable business. Key...
Fact sheet
Fact sheet: Identifying new revenue opportunities for the honey bee industry
The primary objective of the
Identifying revenue opportunities for AgriFutures Australia’s rural industries project was to identify potential new and alternate revenue sources within 28 of AgriFutures Australia’s levied and emerging industries, and for Australian agriculture generally. Through a combination of stakeholder consultations and literature reviews, additional, new and alternate revenue sources were identified. These revenue sources range from completely new and novel opportunities to those previously explored but that could benefit from further investment. Similarly, what may be ‘old’ in one industry may well be new and untried in others.
New revenue opportunities may contribute to industry profitability and sustainability in four ways. Firstly, they provide diversification, reducing reliance on existing sources of income and thereby enhancing resilience against economic fluctuations and environmental uncertainties, such as drought or market downturn. Secondly, they can promote sustainable practices and innovation, encouraging industries to adopt environmentally friendly and technologically advanced approaches, which in turn supports long-term viability. Thirdly, they can foster economic growth and job creation in rural areas, helping to counter urbanisation trends and maintain vibrant rural communities. Finally, they can strengthen Australia’s position in the global market by tapping into emerging trends and consumer demands, ensuring the continued competitiveness of its rural industries on a global scale.
Industry-specific challenges
Specific insights relating to the Australian honey bee industry include:
1. Varroa mite is now considered endemic in Australia, and the industry has transitioned to managing, rather than attempting to eradicate, the pest. This will impact honey production, exacerbate pressure on beekeepers to pollinate food crops, and redirect resources away from other research and development activities.
2. Overall honey production per hive has reduced over time. The number of beekeepers has exponentially increased in the past few decades, but honey production has remained relatively constant.
3. Levy leakage – 21,800 tonnes of honey produced both commercially and recreationally is not levied and represents more than half the amount of the levied quantity. This significantly impacts the capacity and quality of research into challenges and opportunities in the honey bee and pollination industries.
Industry-specific opportunities
Specific opportunities relating to the Australian honey bee industry include:
1. Investing in the development of the pollination services sector. The pollination services sector is near capacity, with the almond industry hiring about 227,000 hives annually. Australia’s feral bee population is declining due to land use changes, which is also resulting in increased demand for pollination services.
2. Articulating and exploiting the health benefits of honey through clear differentiation between authentic Australian honey and adulterated or mislabelled products, and research into substantiating the health claims through demonstratable evidence.
3. Product development from honey bee by-products, such as beeswax, pollen, propolis, royal jelly and bee venom.
Research to cut summer fun short for major beehive pest
Beekeepers are being urged to remain on the lookout for Small Hive Beetle (SHB) this summer, ahead of research field trials attempting to trap the pest and reduce its spread.
Five from the hive: Highlights from the past five years of the honey bee industry
As the sun sets on the 2014-15 to 2018-19 Five Year Research, Development & Extension Plan, the Honey Bee & Pollination Program has taken a moment to pause on reflect on a challenging but prosperous five years for the industry.
Framework for assessing risk to ecosystem for honey bees
Final report summary: Progressing implementation of genetic selection in Australian honey bees
The European honey bee (Apis mellifera) is one of the most important insects in Australia because it produces honey and provides pollination services. Pollination alone is worth more than $14 billion to the Australian economy and requires about 530,000 hives each year. The declining terms of trade and the increasing requirement of pollination services indicate the honey bee industry is ready for a significant change. Genetic improvement has provided this step-change for animal industries over the past 50 years. Now is the time for the honey bee industry to consider how genetic improvement could be harnessed to meet pollination needs in the future.
Genetic improvement involves using a number of methods, including genomic tools, to drive improvement in honey bee traits important to producers, such as honey production, temperament, disease resistance and pollination services. Seeking genetic improvement of hives can increase the viability of honey production, increase industry resilience in times of change, and increase pollination efficiency and effectiveness. However, developing and implementing a genetic improvement plan for any industry takes significant research and investment.
This research continues work previously undertaken in the AgriFutures Australia project Genetic Evaluation of Australian Honey Bees using BLUP procedures to understand and develop a genetic improvement plan for the honey bee industry. The project demonstrates that establishing estimated breeding values for queens around honey production and other scored traits can be achieved at any scale. The project delivered DNA sampling protocols for genomic identification and understanding of genetic relationships. A number of scenarios were developed within this research for consideration by the honey bee industry on how a genetic improvement program could be implemented and what the costs associated with this implementation would be.
News story
Inaugural winners of the Australian Bee Tech Challenge announced
Joining the global movement to adopt innovative technologies to safeguard bee populations around the world, AgriFutures Honey Bee and Pollination Program in partnership with the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC) have announced LB AgTech, HiveKeepers and CRC for Honey Bee Products as the winners of the inaugural Bee Tech Challenge.
Preparing for Varroa: How susceptible are Australian honey bee stocks?
Securing pollination for more productive agriculture: Guidelines for effective pollinator management and stakeholder adoption
Annually, crop pollinators contribute about AU$14b to the Australian economy (Clarke and Le Feuvre 2020). The pollinators include managed and feral honey bees, native bees and a range of other insects. The produce that depends on pollination includes 35 species of fruit, vegetables, nuts and cotton, as well as oil and pasture seeds. Due to the economic and nutritional value of these products, safeguarding pollination services serves the interest of both the farmers and the consumers of pollination-dependent crops.
The security and resilience of pollination services are increasingly under threat. Increasingly, combinations of agricultural intensification, land clearing, and more frequent and intense droughts and bushfires reduce the resource base for unmanaged and managed pollinators. The security and resilience of crop pollination is further threatened by the expected establishment of the Varroa mite, which will lead to a sharp decline in free pollination by feral honey bees.
This project aimed to secure and enhance crop pollination services by designing ways to support pollinator density and diversity to create a resilient pollinator portfolio.
Resilient systems are able to bounce back from future short-term shock and optimise long-term trends. They are consistent in their performance over time through diversification, risk awareness and flexibility. In the financial world, enhancing the resilience of an investment portfolio requires a profound understanding of the available capital, the risk that capital is exposed to, and the investment landscape. Similarly, a resilient pollinator portfolio requires an understanding of the capital, the threats and the investment options.
Australian honey abuzz with high-value antibacterial activity
Australia has at least seven Leptospermum species that produce honey with exceptionally high levels of antibacterial activity, providing the scientific basis to facilitate the entry of Australian honey producers into premium medicinal markets.
