News
29 August, 2024
OZ Honey is under threat
The chair of the Wheen Bee Foundation says the Australian honey industry is under critical threat with cheap foreign imports set to cripple the viability of commercial beekeepers.
Dr Max Whitten has urged people to buy Australian made honey or face losing the country’s bee keeping industry for good which could result in devastating impacts on our food production capacity.
“If you want genuine honey, then buy Australian produced honey. Imported honey just doesn’t go through stringent quality control, resulting in much of it being manufactured or adulterated; essentially fake honey,” Dr Whitten said.
“Imported honey comes in very cheaply and therefore prevents Australian beekeepers from obtaining a fair price for their honey.
“These imports undercut our producers and, together with the current Varroa mite outbreak, will cause commercial honey operators to go out of business.”
Dr Whitten explained current predictions indicate the invasive Varroa mite will certainly wipe out all the feral bee colonies in Australia, effectively ceasing incidental pollination and leaving the country totally dependent on commercial beekeepers.
Dr Whitten said if honey prices for Australian beekeepers continue to be undercut - mainly due to the importation of cheaper substandard honey - commercial operators will simply retire or be forced to leave the industry.
“Virtually all commercial beekeepers, even those who mainly do pollination work, depend on income from honey to remain viable,” Dr Whitten said.
“If they go out of business we are in serious trouble.”
With nearly two-thirds of Australia’s agricultural production benefiting from bee pollination, Dr Whitten said managed honeybees, mainly by commercial beekeepers, provided the core of pollination services in Australia.
“Much of the food we eat depends on, or benefits from bee pollination. Some crops like almonds are 100% dependent on commercial honeybee keeper services,” he said.
Research presented at the recent international Bee Symposium held in Brisbane last month indicated the world was facing an imminent food security crisis.
“If there is a simple message for the wider community, it is to buy Australian honey and avoid honeys that include any proportion from overseas,” Dr Whitten said.
