APIARISTS have met with the state government to discuss the $3 million impact bushfires and the prolonged dry season have had on this year’s honey harvest.
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The Beekeeper's Association of Tasmania hosted a meeting a fortnight ago with its members and representatives from the state government.
Association president Lindsay Bourke said while the industry was still counting the cost, the immediate impact would total about $3 million in farmgate prices.
“We are at least 300 tonnes down this year; we try to get about 1000 tonnes a year but it’s just not there,” he said.
“It’s not just the honey we’ve lost, some of us have lost hives and trees.”
Mr Bourke said two producers Blue Hills Honey and Daybreak Apiaries were the hardest hit in the bushfires that burned across the state in January.
Those two apiaries lost hives and trees in the fires, some of which will never return.
Leatherwood, a popular and sought after brand of honey, does not grow in fire-affected areas as it does not like growing through soil affected by ash.
Manuka trees, which are the source of manuka honey, known for its medicinal properties, take three or four years to grow back after being burned.
Mr Bourke said apiarists were doing their best to get the bees through the winter.
“It’s not just going to affect this year, if we don’t have the bees we won’t be able to pollinate the crops, it’s going to affect a lot of other industries as well,” Mr Bourke said.
“We normally help each other out in this industry but I don’t know if we’ll be able to because we don’t have the surplus this year.”
Bees are able to sense when fire is about and they don’t leave their hives unless threatened, which means they don’t go out to collect nectar to make into honey.
If they are not collecting nectar they do not build up honey reserves, that other apiarists could have used to supplement the lost product.
Mr Bourke said in the immediate term apiarists would be supplementing their bees diets with pure sugar, something they only do for “emergency situations.”
“It’s just been so dry, we’ve driven them to where the banksias and wildflowers are but the banksias are dry, there is just no nectar there because it’s been so dry.”
“For the rest of us it’s going to be pretty hard to maintain orders for our existing stock.”
The dry season and bushfires will impact on Tasmania’s ability to meet the demand for its honey products and the ongoing impact will be felt during future seasons.