Are Honeybee Numbers Falling in Australia?

Decline of honeybee numbers in Australia

Check out this answer from Consensus:

While Australia has been spared from some of the most devastating factors affecting honeybee populations globally, such as Varroa destructor, other stressors like pesticides, poor nutrition, and habitat loss still pose significant threats. Continued research and targeted conservation efforts are essential to ensure the health and sustainability of honeybee populations in Australia. By understanding and mitigating these stressors, we can help safeguard these vital pollinators for future generations.

Honeybees (Apis mellifera) play a crucial role in pollinating crops and wildflowers, making their health and population dynamics a significant concern for both agriculture and biodiversity. Globally, honeybee populations have been facing numerous threats, leading to declines in many regions. This article explores whether honeybee numbers are falling in Australia, examining the unique factors affecting their populations in this region.

Honeybee Health in Australia

Australia presents a unique case in the global context of honeybee health. Unlike many other regions, Australia is free from the parasitic mite Varroa destructor, a major contributor to honeybee colony losses worldwide. A study analyzing 1,240 honeybee colonies across Australia found that while several viruses were prevalent, including black queen cell virus (BQCV), sacbrood virus (SBV), and Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV), the absence of Varroa destructor and deformed wing virus (DWV) suggests that the co-pathogenic interaction of these two factors is a key driver of colony losses elsewhere2.

Factors Affecting Honeybee Populations

Despite the absence of Varroa destructor, Australian honeybee populations are not immune to other stressors. Research indicates that factors such as pesticides, poor nutrition, and habitat loss can still lead to significant colony losses. A study on honeybee population dynamics highlighted the importance of understanding the mortality rates within different age castes of bees, showing that colonies are highly susceptible to hive and pupae mortality rates3. Additionally, the study emphasized the role of food scarcity and the effects of pheromones in slowing the maturation of hive bees to foraging bees, which can impact overall colony health3.

Global Context and Comparisons

In the global context, honeybee populations have been declining due to a combination of factors, including habitat loss, agricultural intensification, and the introduction of nonnative parasites. For instance, bumblebee species in Europe and North America have experienced significant declines due to habitat degradation and the accidental introduction of parasites1. These findings underscore the importance of addressing multiple stressors to prevent further declines in bee populations.

 

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Are honeybee numbers falling in Australia?

Madeleine Beekman has answered Unlikely

An expert from University of Sydney in Entomology, Biology, Evolutionary Biology

The honeybees in Australia are doing just fine. If the number of colonies would be dropping, then that is because it is the beekeepers who are dying, not the bees. Beekeeping is hard work, and not that many youngsters want to get into the business (although I recently heard that the trend might be reversing).

Why are the bees in Australia doing fine? Firstly, we still have a lot of native bush, so we better look after it (for more than one reason). Secondly, Australia remains free from a parasitic mite that is present in all other countries. This mite (the Varroa mite) sucks the bees’ blood which not only damages the bee, but also leads to the transmission of viruses (in the same way as that we can get infected with Dengue fever via mosquito bites).

Because Australia does not have the mite, our bees do not need to be treated with chemicals to kill the mites. This means that Australian bee products (honey and wax) is highly valued. We better keep it that way!

Our lab is working hard on maintaining the health of our bees. If you want to know more, visit our website: https://sydney.edu.au/science/biology/socialinsects/index.shtml. Or visit our crowdfunding site if you want to become engaged directly: https://crowdfunding.sydney.edu.au/project/11659

 

Are honeybee numbers falling in Australia?

Manu Saunders has answered Unlikely

An expert from University of New England in Ecology, Entomology, Conservation Science

There is no evidence that honey bee numbers are falling in Australia.

Honeybee numbers are usually based on numbers of hives or colonies, because exact numbers of honey bees are hard to know for certain. Although some official data sets (e.g. ABARES or FAO) might show fluctuations in numbers of hives, or state % decreases, these are not evidence of a decline in honey bee numbers. Numbers of officially registered bee hives depend on the number of beekeepers in operation and the voluntary release of data – and the number of beekeepers naturally fluctuates as economic, social and market forces influence the uptake of beekeeping or the exit of beekeepers from the industry.

In addition, there are thousands of feral honey bees in Australia (honey bees are an introduced species), which are very hard to census (e.g. this study found higher numbers of feral colonies in national parks compared to disturbed agricultural areas). So it is impossible to know how many there are in the first place, let alone know if numbers are falling.

The media coverage of ‘declines in bee numbers’ is often exaggerated and confounded by numerous issues. For example, if honey bee colonies suffer losses in one part of the world, this is not evidence that the same effect will be seen everywhere. In Australia, managed honey bees are generally doing okay, compared to managed honey bees in other countries. However, they are facing future threats (e.g. when Varroa arrives), and current pressures (e.g. pesticide use). Our native bee species (about 1800-2000 species) are also facing similar stressors, but we know even less about their numbers.

 

Are honeybee numbers falling in Australia?

Des Cannon has answered Unlikely

An expert from Australian Beekeeper in Apiology

As Editor of The Australasian Beekeeper, 

1. Anecdotal evidence tells me that commercial beekeepers today are experiencing losses each year in the order of 30% (whereas the norm 10 years ago was closer to 15%), BUT, these losses would be recovered each year as the beekeepers split their hives to replace losses, so the overall number of colonies would not go down much.
2. The growth in ‘urban’ or ‘hobbyist’ beekeeping has been huge over the last 10 years, so that would also help stabilise numbers
3. The last ABARE survey did show losses in the overall numbers (compared the previous survey), but this was largely accounted for by the fact that beekeeping is an aging industry and a lot of commercial beekeepers had retired or left beekeeping without being replaced. Over the 10 years to 2015–16, the number of registered beekeepers rose by more than 3 000, although many of these were non-commercial operators. Over the same period, both the number of hives and the number of commercial beekeepers fell by around 25 per cent.

The ABARE survey quoted above: Australian honey bee industry: 2014–15 survey results

Jeremy van Dijk, Jay Gomboso and Caroline Levantis

ABARES research report 16.18

December 2016

 

Are honeybee numbers falling in Australia?

Nadine C Chapman has answered Likely

An expert from University of Sydney in Biology

The ABARES survey (https://data.gov.au/dataset/pb_auhbi9aas_20161208/resource/1c12f4a0-2cf4-43cc-b71a-04202bf5682b) states that the number of honey bee colonies decreased 25% between 2005/6 and 2015/16. The reasons for this may include pests and diseases, attrition of beekeepers, drought and chemical use and others I haven’t thought of.

The number of feral (unmanaged) honey bee colonies has not been properly quantified.

If Australia gets the Varroa mite it is expected that up to 95% of honey bee colonies will be lost (Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry 2011).

Australia also has many native bees, and not a great deal of data on them.

 

Are honeybee numbers falling in Australia?

Leonard J Foster has answered Likely

An expert from University of British Columbia in Biology

As the government data cited by another reviewer indicates, overall numbers do seem to be decreasing. Based on our experience in Canada, however, I would say that this is at least in part due to a conscious decision by the bee industry. Canada, which has the varroa mite, loses ~25% of our colonies each winter. If one looks year-over-year, however, the total numbers of colonies have increased 3 to 5% each year. So beekeepers see value in having a certain number of colonies and they are working hard to replace the colonies lost each winter. If numbers are indeed decreasing in Australia then I would say that it is not just because of disease but rather also because beekeepers do not need as many colonies.

 

Are honeybee numbers falling in Australia?

Benedict White has answered Unlikely

An expert from University of Western Australia in Economics, Environmental Science, Agricultural Science

Relating to managed honey bees in Western Australia (WA) and taking an economists perspective related to my research for the Honey Bee products Cooperative Research Centre . I would estimate that numbers are not falling. Disease and pest threats in WA are manageable and the number of registered beekeepers are increasing. There are still some ongoing threats to honey bees including bush fires and more variable flowering events especially in the jarrah and karri forests.

 

Are honeybee numbers falling in Australia?

Sean Tomlinson has answered Unlikely

An expert from Curtin University in Conservation Science, Zoology

If you think about this objectively it becomes fairly obvious why this is unlikely: firstly European honeybees (Apis mellifera) are one of the more rampant invasive species in Australia, and represent a substantial ecological management challenge. This is hardly likley to be the case if they’re in decline in Australia.

Secondly, Apis mellifera are in decline elsewhere in the world as a result of a fairly obscure phenomenon called colony collapse disorder (CCD). While I’m far from an expert on this my understanding is that the leading suspects are disease and parasites that are absent from Australia as a result of our isolation, and our strong quarantine practices. I note that other, more informed experts have commented on this.

The statement framed in the question “as bee numbers fall”. Globally there has been a decline in Honeybees. More concerning, however, is that there has been a decline in the diversity of other bees as well. This is mostly considered to result from habitat destruction or fragmentation, pesticide use, and other pollutants. This appears to be a pattern that is also happening in Australia; while the honeybees might be doing well, our natives are considerably less secure. Honeybees might even be partly to blame for that, being more physiologically robust, adaptable and invasive than many native species. A decline in diverse communities of native bees is a real problem in Australia, because honeybees aren’t good pollinators of many of our native plants, or even of some of our crop plants. Indeed some agricultural productivity increases markedly with the introduction of managed populations of endemic Australian bees.

So, while it is unlikely that honeybees are in decline in Australia, it might be fair to say that bee numbers more broadly are falling.

 

Are honeybee numbers falling in Australia?

Romina Rader has answered Unlikely

An expert from University of New England in Crop and Pasture Production

Given that the Varroa mite is not established yet, and the success of honeybees generally in Australia, I think declines at the moment are unlikely – but we need to start gathering sufficient evidence to address this question properly. Obtaining clear evidence is difficult for several reasons. Data from government records relating to managed honeybees, such as beekeeper and hive number registrations in Australia, could be used in an attempt to address the managed honeybee side of the question, but even then these data might be tricky to interpret as there are many beekeepers that do not update hive numbers and some remain unregistered. Many beekeepers are also leaving the workforce. In regard to the non-managed (or feral) hive numbers, we actually have little knowledge of this in Australia as its hard to find hives in such a big place and keep tabs on them. While there is much anecdotal evidence to suggest feral hives fluctuate a lot in Australia, we actually don’t know exactly how many there are or where they are at a given time. The fact that Australia has such diverse habitats and climatic zones means that there is a lot of variation in resource availability across time and space that likely impact hive numbers. This makes it complicated, especially given many flowering plants (e.g. Eucalypts) don’t flower every year and flowering generally varies a lot in relation to environmental conditions. Nonetheless, given the honeybee declines abroad due to pests and diseases (esp. CCD and Varroa), Australia’s situation will likely change in the coming years so we need to know now what we have before it changes in a big way.

 

Are honeybee numbers falling in Australia?

Robert Owen has answered Extremely Unlikely

An expert from University of Melbourne in Biology

The answer dpends how you define honeybees. The number of honeybee colonies managed by beekeepers across Australia is increasing, partly due to the large increase in the number of hobby beekeepers. The number of feral colonies across Australia (in tree hollows etc) is not known. There is anecdotal evidence that the number feral of colonies in the wild is decreasing in NSW and Queensland due to the Small Hive Beetle becoming endemic here from Africa. Bad news about bee deaths comes from the US where there are a lot of other contributing factors, such as overuse of agricultural pesticides and fungicides, large scale monocultures, such as almonds, which do not provide adequate nutrition, transport of bee colonies over large distances which stresses colonies, and the poor management of diseases by hobby beekeepers. These issues are not present in Australia and thus are not contributing to colony deaths. Overall I would say that honeybee health in Australia is good and that the number of honeybee colonies is not decreasing.

 

Are honeybee numbers falling in Australia?

katja hogendoorn has answered Unlikely

An expert from University of Adelaide in Entomology, Crop and Pasture Production, Evolutionary Biology, Conservation Science

If only – there are way too many honey bees in Australia!

Roughly, there are three types of bees:

• managed honey bees – introduced in Australia in the 1820s, great for crop pollination and honey production;
• feral honey bees – a result of the introduction, and an environmental pest;
• native bees – about 1700 species and counting.

Managed hives are not in decline. Not in Australia, and not in the rest of the world. This is a farmed animal and the number of hives is regulated by the market for honey and pollination. During some periods of the year, beekeepers struggle to produce honey due to a lack of flowers. But they can keep the hives alive by feeding sugar and protein. There has been, over the last few years an increase in hobby beekeepers in Australia. Some of these think that keeping honey bees is good for the environment. This is a misconception. Australian nature has subsisted for millions of years without honey bees.

Feral honey bees are an abundant pest in areas with old eucalypt trees. They take large quantities of pollen and nectar out of the system. This is particularly detrimental when there is little in flower, as the feral bees compete with other consumers of pollen and nectar (mammals, birds, native bees, managed hives). Feral honey bees also displace vertebrates from nesting hollows. Although there are declines during drought and after bush fires, the ferals can catch up quickly.

Native bees, and insects in general, are in decline worldwide due to habitat destruction, pesticide use and climate change. This is probably also happening in Australia, but we have no baseline data and hence cannot do the stats.

For the survival of insects and of all the plants and vertebrates that rely on them for pollination and food, roughly 30% of the land should be covered by quality native vegetation.

Want to do something for the bees? Plant bee food!