Program Overview

Background and Long-Term Strategy

There are currently about 10,000 registered beekeepers in Australia operating approximately 600,000 hives. By location, New South Wales is the largest honey producer (39 per cent), followed by South Australia (19 per cent), Victoria (17 per cent), Queensland (14 per cent), Western Australia (7 per cent) and Tasmania (4 per cent). Most commercial honeybee keepers are regionally based.

While honey is the major commercial output of the honeybee industry, there are a number of other products, which also add to the income of honeybee businesses. These include production of beeswax, queen and packaged bees and propolis.

Average Australian honey production ranges between 20-30,000 tonnes per year (ABARE 2008). Production data is limited, but trends in volume of Australian production show that output is significantly affected by drought conditions. The Australian honeybee industry had an estimated gross value of honey and beeswax production (GVP) of $75 million in 2007-08, and this figure was forecast to rise to $80 million during 2008-09 (ABARE 2008).

Honeybees also play a central role in effective pollination of a wide range of crops. Production of commodities such as apples and almonds is completely dependent on pollination by honeybees, and in a wide range of other crops, honeybee pollination significantly increases product yield and quality. A number of beekeepers are now paid for the provision of pollination services to agricultural producers, and it is expected that this activity will continue to increase in size and importance to the industry.

The importance of biosecurity to the industry has recently been highlighted by the cost and effort required to eradicate a single incursion of the Asian Hive Bee (Apis cerana) in northern Queensland. A. cerana is a known host of the Varroa mite, which a potentially devastating pest of the European Honeybee (Apis mellifera); in this instance, however, the invasive A. cerana colony was not parasitised by this pest.

Key challenges for the honeybee and pollination-dependent industries include developing:

• Methods and strategies for management of existing and threatening pests and diseases in the industry. The Small Hive Beetle (Aethnia tumida) is continuing to spread in eastern Australia, causing losses to managed hives and an unknown but potentially significant level of damage to feral bees. In addition, two species of Varroa mites pose a major risk both to the honeybee industry and associated pollination-dependent industries; neither is known to be in Australia at this time. Continued investment in pre-border and border surveillance and protection are an important element of protecting the nation from these pests. The prevalence and impact of a newly-emerged (or newly-invaded) microbial bee disease, Nosema ceranae, remains to be clarified, as does its interaction with the long-established species N. apis
• Plans for continuity of the industries in Australia in the event of incursion of Varroa. The Program is represented on a the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry-managed committee that is working to establish appropriate plans and strategies to cope with such an eventuality
• Strategic measures to maximise market returns to Australian honey producers and suppliers. At present, honey competes with other natural and artificial sweeteners for dietary use. Outcomes of R&D work supported by the Honeybee Program have established that many Australian honeys possess important attributes such as a low glycaemic index and/or pre-biotic and therapeutic properties. It is important that the industry now uses this knowledge to best advantage to derive optimal returns for honey in an increasingly competitive market.

Key long-term strategies

The key long-term strategy of the Honeybee Five-Year R&D Plan is to improve the productivity of the Australian beekeeping industry through the organisation, funding and management of a research, development and extension Program that is both stakeholder and market focussed.

The Honeybee R&D Program is driven by the following objectives:

• Pest and disease protection - to be prepared for exotic pest and disease incursion before it occurs; to prevent the establishment of exotic pests and diseases of economic significance; and to control endemic pests and diseases that impact on beekeeper profitability (45 per cent)
• Productivity and profitability enhancement to lift beekeeper income - to encourage a culture of constant improvement in bee husbandry and management; to provide an across- the- board lift to industry productivity and profitability; and to focus productivity improvement on bee genetics, best management practices, beekeeper efficiencies and industry benchmarking (15 per cent)
• Resource access security and knowledge - to ensure ongoing access to native forests on public lands; to win back a share of native forest access lost in previous resource allocation decisions; to better understand the native floral resource on which the industry depends; and to address the implications of climate change on the Australian apiary industry (10 per cent)
• Pollination research - to better understand the cost and value of pollination services provided by beekeepers; and to generate industry value through shared learning with crop producers, especially the Australian almond industry (10 per cent)
• Income diversification including new product development - to provide a major boost to packaged bee sales, an area of strong competitive advantage for the Australian industry; and to develop new Australian apiary products which represent secondary niche opportunities (10 per cent)
• Extension, communication and capacity building:
• - to improve industry performance through the adoption of relevant R&D project outcomes and beekeeper participation in vocational training
• - to educate the public and policy makers on the economic contribution made by the honeybee industry
• - to build capacity in the Australian honeybee industry by encouraging the next generation of industry leaders and researchers (10 per cent).

The Program budget allocations are flexible and are guided by the Honeybee R&D Committee.