Backyard beekeeping is booming, but with the world’s worst bee parasite on our doorstep, can well-meaning enthusiasts bring down Queensland’s honey industry?
Most important points:
- Commercial honey industry is concerned about the spread of Varroa mite from backyard beehives
- Recreational beekeepers are urged to register their hives with Biosecurity Queensland
- A Toowoomba Lavender Farm has started a bee sponsorship program where beehives are kept on the farm, reducing the threat
Varroa mite, a parasite that spreads viruses that cripple bees’ ability to fly, gather food or emerge from their cells to be born, was discovered in New South Wales in June and thousands of hives have since been destroyed as authorities rush to try to eradicate it.
It has created enormous challenges for commercial beekeeping, which is critical to crop pollination across Australia, as beekeepers faced restrictions on movement and loss of income and hives in response.
But while the number of commercial beekeepers in Queensland has been static, the number of hobby beekeepers has soared.
Added to this are different levels of skill, understanding and compliance with regulations designed to protect the wider industry from pests and diseases.
Are you registered?
Secretary of State Jo Martin of the Queensland Beekeepers Association hoped the popularity of backyard beekeeping would not backfire on the industry.
“The number and increase of recreational beekeepers in urban and regional areas is something we never expected,” said Ms Martin.
Of the more than 9,000 registered beekeepers in Queensland, only 300 are commercial.
Ms Martin said it is critical that urban and recreational beekeepers have registered with Biosecurity Queensland so that they can be contacted, advised and involved in response in the event of an outbreak.
“The Varroa mite carries many of the really devastating diseases that can cause catastrophic deaths in honeybee colonies and collectively those diseases will be very difficult to control,” Ms Martin said.
“Maybe all of us [need to] make a bit of a pledge right now to make ourselves all responsible.
“We need all beekeepers to be registered and do their surveillance checks, do the alcohol washes and report their findings so that we are as best prepared as possible to deal with any mites here in Queensland.”
Check your hives
The Queensland Government is instructing beekeepers to check their hives and familiarize themselves with identifying Varroa mite.
It has developed the new Bee 123 form, which can be downloaded via the Survey 123 app and is used to report findings.
“We also appeal to anyone if they buy a bucket of honey from their neighbor next door, or maybe it’s at the local farmers market, do your part to protect the welfare of honeybees in the state and ask that person if they are a registered beekeeper,” Ms Martin said.
“Protecting the biosecurity of livestock and our horticultural industry is absolutely paramount to our freedoms as Australians to access wonderful, wholesome produce and also that world-class honey that we are so proud to produce in Queensland.”
Sponsoring an alternative
At her lavender and bee farm west of Toowoomba, Alicia Volhand has set up a bee sponsorship program where locals and businesses can pay for their own beehive, which is cared for and kept on her property.
Ms Volhand said it excludes the risks of backyard beekeeping.
“I have noticed that many people who want to keep bees go out to buy the bees and the [hive]but then don’t really know how to take care of them,” she said.
“I’ve given beekeeping workshops to teach people how to take care of them if they want to keep them, but even if they’re not in a position to do that, it’s a good idea to have someone who knows a little bit about how they have to take care of them an easy way for them to support the environment.
“The sponsor pays to set up the hive – so hardware, boxes, frames – and buy the bees and in return they get to choose the color of the hive and have their name stenciled on it.”
Of the 15 beehives on her farm, nine are sponsored.
Small hive beetle threat
Small hive beetle is another pest that amateur beekeepers should be aware of.
The Queensland Beekeepers’ Association warns that it has become a major problem in soggy wet conditions this year.
“As a result of the recent wet weather we have experienced in Queensland, many beekeepers have reported that 10 per cent and 15 per cent of hives have been lost to small hive beetles,” said Ms Martin.
“We actually expect this small hive beetle to be in plague-like conditions in some regions of Queensland.
“We definitely recommend beekeepers to connect to the BeeAware website as it’s a really great learning and education tool on how to actually control a lot of pests in your apiaries.”