ISOBEL COLEMAN
The Coast’s honey industry is facing a tough future but not for the reasons the experts would have us believe.
The Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC) says “abnormal weather conditions” are set to deliver the lowest national honey yields in at least a decade. But local beekeeper Zane Hacker – The Bee Man – said the real reason behind reduced yield is easily to rectify than the weather. Trevor Weatherhead, Executive Director of the AHBIC said the combination of excessive heat, flood and drought had hit prime honey producing areas in recent times, reducing honey supplies by over 50 per cent. But Mr Hacker said the real problem lay in people’s backyards. “Honey production is affected by a lot of different factors, not just the hot weather. The simple answer is that bees rely on flowers, flowers rely on trees and plants, and people need to stop cutting them down,” he said. “A heatwave is a short-term problem and bees are actually really good at adjusting the temperature in the hive. “The real problem is tree clearing, and also people planting the wrong types of tree. Native trees are drought-resistant, more resilient to pests and encourage more bees. “People think about honey when they think about bees but they forget about the crucial job bees do by pollinating. For example, they may not eat honey but they may like eating nuts. One nut relies on one bee to pollinate it. “If bee numbers drop, pollination will drop and our crops will suffer. So if people want to help, they need to stop chopping down trees and start planting native trees.” Mr Hacker supplies honey to IGA stores on the Sunshine Coast. The family-run business has been operating for around 30 years.
