Honey production and beehive numbers in Australia have both taken a fall over the past year according to the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council.
Danny Le Fevre, AHBIC CEO, said that poor conditions across much of Australia had led to less honey being produced this year.
More recently, he also reported that a recent industry survey had revealed the national managed bee hive population had fallen last year.
“ Overall, the national hive count has dropped by 5% to 823,291 hives (previously 866,497). This has been influenced by a 13% drop in NSW and 10% drop in SA” he said.
In his CEO’s report in AHBIC’s February newsletter Le Fevre said that the total number would have been lower but for a significant increase in Tasmanian hive numbers (likely because of new local requirements to register hives).
“NSW and SA have seen a drop in registered commercial beekeepers by 17% and 18% respectively” he wrote.
Recent exponential growth in the popularity of recreational beekeeping has also ended with only a 4% increase in the number of amateur beekeepers over the last 12 months.
According to Le Fevre, a very poor honey season in South Australia has had a material impact, but the spread of varroa mite has also been a significant factor.
The mite is now being detected in bee hives in the far south coast of NSW, around Bega.
This is likely affecting major commercial honey producers based in the area including Bega, and Wild Nectar Honey.
A cluster of infected hives has also recently been discovered in the Lockyer Valley of south -east Queensland.
That will no doubt be extremely concerning for Australia’s largest honey packer, Brisbane-based Hive and Wellness, marketer of the Capilano brand.
Of course, the decline in bee hive numbers had long been forecast to be likely with the arrival of varroa mite in Australia.
increased cost and difficulty of keeping beehives has significantly reduced both the number of bee hives and the level honey production.
Indeed, Comvita claimed in its latest half yearly results presentation to shareholders that New Zealand honey production had fallen more than 50% in just the last four years.
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