The Beekeepers Club Inc.

Q2-2009 Newsletter (by John Kennedy)

LOTS OF BEEHIVES
The world has a host of Beehive Hotels.

There's one in Rome, another in Saskatchewan Canada, one in the Maldives and at least a couple in rural NSW.

And most of us would know the local version the Beehive Hotel in Barkers Road Hawthorn.

But the original Beehive Hotel is in Grantham Lincolnshire in the UK where it has been in business on the same site since about 1550. It is so named because throughout its life it has had a live beehive which is situated just above the pub's advertising sign.

Although it is now apparently part of a much larger real ale pub chain the management goes to great lengths to ensure that the solitary hive which gives the pub its name is carefully looked after and is rightly the land mark and talking point for patrons that it should be!


THREE YEARS OF FALLING PRODUCTION
Australia's honey production has fallen by a third over the last three years due to a combination of factors but with the drought, bushfires in Victoria and elsewhere rating amongst the major impacts.

Another popularly advanced factor is the advancing age of a lot of established apiarists and their unwillingness to travel long distances to chase a flow especially when honey prices have been offering little or no return for the labour and capital invested.

While the hobby interest in beekeeping has never been higher and is reflected in the strong membership and guest attendances at the monthly meetings of The Beekeepers Club, there seems to be a steady decline in commercial apiary numbers.

No wonder that so much of our honey sighted in supermarkets and similar outlets is being sourced from China and other nations.


RIRDC REPORT ON INDUSTRY ECONOMICS
The Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation has been surveying the economics of Australian honeybee businesses for the past six years.

The latest 2008 Survey presents results from 135 beekeepers and presents estimates of production, socioeconomic and financial characteristics of the businesses for the 2006-7 financial year.

The report notes that the financial performance was substantially better for larger businesses operating more than 1000 hives, which achieved a rate of return of almost 5% indicating economies of scale.

According to the RIRDC's Dr. Peter O'Brien an estimated 28% of honeybee businesses provide pollination services, but this is expected to increase with 36% of beekeepers indicating they are expecting to commence or expand pollination services in future.

"Increasingly beekeepers are not just producers of honey, but providers of pollination services that help sustain agriculture and feed the nation" Dr. O'Brien is quoted but he noted that "despite improved performance, the industry is facing a number of challenges, including drought, pest and diseases, access to public land and meeting future pollination demand."


TASMANIAN HONEY SEASON OPENS POORLY
While Tasmania has only five commercial beekeepers it is noted for the production of the distinctive leatherwood honey.

However the industry accepts that weather conditions can influence production by up to 50% which becomes quite an important factor when the annual leatherwood harvest is put at around 1,000 tonnes.

Earlier this year Julian Wolfhagen, President of the Tasmanian Beekeepers Association said the industry took a significant hit in January when the season was estimated to be about three weeks late with unseasonably cool weather affecting the clover, blackberry and leatherwood supply.

The loss in production as a result was expected to be about 300 tonnes of honey.


NEW ZEALAND CELEBRATES BEE WEEK
You've got to hand it to our friends across the ditch.

Each year, in 2009 during the first week of May, they have a Bee Week which is supported by the National Beekeepers Association of NZ, Horticulture New Zealand, Organics Aotearoa New Zealand and Plant & Food Research.

Each day of the week is a focus on different aspects of beekeeping.

This year there are presentations on the value of honey products, the value of pollination, bees and agrochemicals, research and development and biosecurity-especially the concerns around Varroa.

NZ Minister for Agriculture David Carter launched the week at a function on May 5.

Horticulture New Zealand has stressed that vigilance is essential if crop pollination is to continue, especially as Horticulture NZ CEO Peter Silcock has noted - bees are dying in many parts of the world.

"We can stop that happening here but we have to be smart, vigilant and we have to spend money on research" Silcock says.

He added "the value of pollination to NZ is beyond calculation; cautious estimates say that at least a third of the food we eat is a direct result of pollination."

"Then there are the multi-million dollars in export earnings derived from pollinated crops which puts jobs in our rural tons and money in the bank."

He noted that pollination is not easy work: a bee must visit a kiwifruit flower at least four times to ensure the fruit produced is of export quality size.

"Horticulture is the beekeeping industry's biggest client and without the bee, many of our growers would find it extremely difficult to continue to produce high quality products" Silcock says.

"Respect the bees' environment and they will get on and do the job we all need them to do" Silcock said.


Call for honeybee industry experts
RIRDC is calling for applications from interested people to apply for positions on the Honeybee Research and Development Advisory Committee.

The committee consists of people with a range of skills and experience in the research, production, processing and marketing sectors of industry together with a representative of the Corporation. The committee provides recommendations on the allocation of research and development contributions (comprising industry levies and Commonwealth matching) to the RIRDC Board.

For further information about these positions and how to apply, phone the Honeybee Program Coordinator on (02) 6271 4132.