South Australia is currently facing a serious shortage of honey bees required for the state’s annual crop pollination services. The scourge of the Varroa mite is expanding. This parasite has greatly stressed and killed many honey bee colonies and spreads viruses, making the state even more dependent on bees from outside the state to provide pollination services. All of this points to the disturbing prospect of rising food prices as growers face the need to pay dearly to find suitable pollinators for their crops.
Every year, tens of thousands of bees are brought over from other states to help pollinate South Australian fruit and vegetables. The almond industry depends on these services—including 80 percent of almond growers who rent hives for pollination. In fact, 1/3 of crops grown in Australia rely on bee pollination. The Varroa mite infestation by the Varroa destructor mite has catastrophic effects on bee populations. It affects the agricultural industry and consumers just as much if not more.
Keegan Blignaut — managing director of the Murraylands-based Ag-Tech company Duxton Bees — is buzzing with the prospects. He foresees continued growth in demand for pollination services. “We’ve been very fortunate up until this time without varroa being endemic in Australia, that we’ve had, in a sense, this free pollination for crops,” he explained. Feral bee populations are nearly extinct, primarily due to the Varroa mite. So, we need to depend increasingly on managed hives to help sustain them.
The Impact of Varroa Mite on Agriculture
Add to that the Varroa mite, one of the most serious threats to the many of our food crops that rely upon bees for pollination. Almonds aren’t the only water-intensive crops that put California’s economy at risk. Canola, lucerne, clovers, cherries, apricots and pears all rely on these essential pollinators. Yet as feral bee populations continue to decline, growers will have to rely even more on managed hives to produce healthy crops.
As Simon Gerblich of the Beekeepers Society of South Australia says, we must remedy this situation urgently. “Once all of those feral colonies go, that will mean that all of those pollination-dependent industries…the yield on that fruit is going to go down,” he stated. Growers need to start getting ready for a future in which managed hives may be their only choice. Preventing serious crop pollination shortages depends on this proactive approach.
Furthermore, the industry faces economic challenges. “The industry is not at the scale to support the demand for pollination, so the price of pollination will increase, which will support the industry,” Blignaut noted. He said increasing the price of honey is vital for the industry’s survival. For the past five or six years, low historic commodity prices have pinned the industry to the ground.
Calls for Action Among Beekeepers
In response to these changes, beekeepers throughout South Australia are being encouraged to act quickly. Gerblich encourages all South Australian beekeepers to register with PIRSA (Primary Industries and Regions SA). He urges them to test for Varroa mites often, and monitor their hives for signs of disease. “We really need all SA beekeepers to virtually assume that varroa could be near them and start doing varroa tests,” he remarked.
Data indicating declines in feral bee populations would put growers in a position where they would have to change practices to best fit their needs. According to industry expert Grant Piggott’s projections, the number of managed hives will need to grow next year. This increase is critical to keep up with increasing demand for pollination services.
Blignaut echoed these sentiments, stating that “probably, as soon as next year, the amount of managed hives that growers need to achieve their pollination will need to increase.” These farm improvements are key to helping crops survive. They are critical in preserving their fight against the growing challenges, especially from the Varroa mite.
Future Implications for Consumers
These changes affect more than farmers and beekeepers. Consumers aren’t going to have much time until they start noticing higher food prices as a result of this crisis. Commercial pollination services are becoming a bigger deal and commercial pollination service prices are increasing. As a consequence, consumers in grocery stores will have to pay more.
Blignaut has a word of warning to consumers—prepare for greater price hikes. The good news is that the agricultural sector is leading the way in making these changes. “But we need to see an increase in the honey price to increase growth in the industry,” he said.
