BEEKEEPERS are being urged to adopt a biosecurity code of practice to keep their bees healthy and to safeguard honey bee and pollination dependent industries.
Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC) chair Peter McDonald said the aim of the National Bee Biosecurity Program and the associated Biosecurity Code of Practice was to ensure beekeepers had the awareness and knowledge to manage bee pests and diseases, and to detect exotic problems early.
“Established pests and diseases like American foulbrood, small hive beetle and chalkbrood are causing significant economic and social harm to the bee industry and this would be exacerbated by an incursion of an exotic pest like the varroa mite,” Mr McDonald said.
Honey production is worth more than $100 million annually, along with sales of beeswax, queen and packaged bees. This is dwarfed by the benefits of bee pollination services.
AHBIC worked with state governments, the Australian Government and Plant Health Australia to develop the National Bee Biosecurity Program and the Biosecurity Code of Practice. The honey bee industry contributes $400,000/year to the program through levies.
Honey production is worth more than $100 million annually, along with sales of beeswax, queen and packaged bees. This is dwarfed by the benefits of bee pollination services.
In some states, legislation has been changed to assist with adoption of the biosecurity code of practice, and bee biosecurity officers and apiary officers are found in each state to assist beekeepers.
The Australian Honey Bee Industry Biosecurity Code of Practice requires the nation’s 1500 commercial beekeepers, who have more than 50 hives each, and the 22,000 hobby beekeepers to use best-practice biosecurity measures.
In coming months about 200,000 beehives will be transported to and from almond growing regions in southern Australia for pollination, making effective biosecurity of bee hives more important than ever.