The Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC) is the peak honey bee industry body that represents the interests of its member state beekeeping organisations and beekeepers from around Australia. Responsibilities of the representative body include:
- biosecurity planning and implementation at the national and farm levels
- liaising with federal and state governments on trade issues
- funding and supporting biosecurity initiatives
- participating in national committees and response efforts in an emergency.
Industry overview
The industry also exports live bees, and Australian beeswax commands a premium price overseas. Trade relies on the healthy status of Australia’s bees, with high values attributed to the lack of residue from miticides that are used overseas to treat Varroa mites.
The National Bee Biosecurity Program
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The honey bee industry also funds the National Bee Biosecurity Program, a partnership between industry and government, which employees Bee Biosecurity Officers (BBO) in all Australian states. BBOs provide training and education to help beekeepers implement biosecurity measures and ensure they are complying with the Code of Practice and relevant legislation. |
The National Bee Pest Surveillance Program
The National Bee Pest Surveillance Program is an early warning system to detect new incursions of exotic bee pests and pest bees. The program involves a range of surveillance methods conducted at sea and air ports throughout Australia considered to be the most likely entry points for bee pests and pest bees.
The National Bee Pest Surveillance Program has two major objectives:
Trade support
To facilitate the export of queen bees and packaged bees to countries sensitive to a range of bee pests and pest bees. This program will provide technical, evidence based, information to support Australia’s pest free status claims during export negotiations and will assist exporters in meeting export certification requirements.
Exotic bee pest and pest bee early warning
To act as an early warning system to detect new incursions of exotic bee pests and pest bees. This greatly increases the possibility of eradicating an incursion and limits the scale and cost of an eradication program.
The program is jointly funded by the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council, Hort Innovation, Grain Producers Australia and the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources. In-kind contributions for the implementation of the program are provided through each state and territory Department of Agriculture as well as volunteer beekeepers. At a national level, PHA coordinates and administers the program.
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Fact sheetAbout the National Bee Pest Surveillance Program This summary document includes the objectives of the program, methods used for surveillance, the role of PHA in the program and the sources of funding. |
Biosecurity plans, manuals and resources
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Biosecurity planning provides a mechanism for the honey bee industry, government and other relevant stakeholders to assess current biosecurity practices and future biosecurity needs. Planning identifies procedures that can be put in place to reduce the chance of pests reaching our borders or minimise the impact if a pest incursion occurs.
The Industry Biosecurity Plan for Honey Bee Industry outlines key threats to the industry, risk mitigation plans, identification and categorisation of exotic pests and contingency plans. For a copy, please contact PHA on 02 6215 7700 or email biosecurity@phau.com.au |
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The Biosecurity Manual for Beekeepers provides information for the industry and producers about biosecurity practices and honey bee pests. |
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The Australian Honey Bee Industry Biosecurity Code of Practice (the Code) provides a framework for beekeepers to use best-practice biosecurity measures.
The Code has been developed to incorporate fundamental biosecurity principles into the practices of all Australian beekeepers including:
Biosecurity Online TrainingHoney bee biosecurity module – a short awareness course based on the Biosecurity Manual for Beekeepers. It provides an introduction to biosecurity best practice, hive inspections, surveillance, moving hives and how to report a suspect Emergency Plant Pest. Biosecurity for Beekeepers – provides advice on keeping honey bees healthy using industry best practice. This course supports the Australian Honey Bee Industry Code of Practice and is one way to meet the training requirement of the Code. |
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Workshop AcariThe potential impacts of a Varroa mite detection, and the ensuing response, on the pollination-dependent industries was investigated at Workshop Acari. Government regulators, pollination providers, and representatives from the beekeeping and pollination-dependent industries interacted with international and Australian experts through a mixture of key note presentations and discussion activities. The workshop demonstrated to apiarists, the almond and other pollination-dependant industries how to prepare for, and act in, an incursion. More information on the workshop can be found in the Workshop Report. Workshop Acari built on the report Varroa Mite Preparedness of Pollination Dependent Industries. |
Other biosecurity projectsInformation about the following projects is available in the National Programs section of this site.
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Apiary biosecurity formsThe following forms are available as editable pdf documents: |
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Apiary biosecurity signsThere are two templates for biosecurity signs:
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PostcardPromotional postcard to support the exotic plant pest hotline 1800 084 881 |
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BrochureThe Honey bee biosecurity threats brochure describes established and exotic pests of honey bees in Australia. |
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