Development & the Honey Bee Industry

The honey bee (Apis mellifra) is often the forgotten livestock. Development across NSW fails to assess impacts to our industry. The honey bee is critical to Australia’s food security with one in three mouthfuls of food dependent on commercial pollination services.

Along with the dairy, poultry, pigs, goats, cattle and horses, the honey bee is classified as intensive livestock.  We do not farm in paddocks enclosed by fences, we move our colonies around NSW and other states by truck, based on the available floral resources for honey production and pollination demands of the horticultural industry.

We must be considered during all stages of assessment and development.  We welcome planners, developers, government and all stakeholders to engage with us to work towards better outcomes for our industry.  The food security of the country depends on it.

This webpage includes the webinar presentation hosted by NSW DPRID’s Agricultural Land Use Planning (ALUP) Team, and presented by Tamara Prentice Manager ALUP, Matthew Skinner President NSW Apiarists’ Association Inc. and Jon Lockwood Managing Director Goldfield Honey Australia Pty Ltd.  The webinar presented on honey bee biology, the commercial honey bee and pollination industry, how we operate and the potential impacts and land-use conflicts that development and land clearing are having on this crucial industry. Watch the recording now below.

The accompanying fact sheet details our industry, key industry issues, key policy and impacts of development in NSW.

Development Beekeeping Industry Fact Sheet

Visit the NSW DPIRD Agricultural Land Use Planning Team for more information Agricultural Land Use Planning (ALUP)