General News
21 July, 2026
Honey bee crisis talks
THE Queensland Government has convened a honey bee industry roundtable to help protect Queensland’s mightiest pollinators and safeguard national food security.
The government partnered with the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC) and the Queensland Beekeepers Association (QBA) to host the roundtable late last month.
The critical talks were in response to the escalating impacts of varroa mite and emerging resistance of the mites to chemical treatments on beekeepers, pollination services and pollination-dependent industries.
The roundtable explored 10 priority action areas and tested proposed actions, identified practical pathways forward and agreed on key issues for consideration at a follow-up forum being held on 28 July.
Honey bee pollination is imperative to broader food security, supporting crops worth around $12.9 billion each year, making a strong and sustainable beekeeping industry critical to the future of Australian agriculture.
The spread of varroa mite across Australia and the detection of chemical resistance in varroa mites across NSW, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia has caused significant concern from commercial and recreational beekeepers and pollination-reliant industries.
Primary Industries Minister Tony Perrett said it was an important opportunity to get all the key players together to work out a coordinated, practical approach.
“The Crisafulli government cares deeply about its bees, beekeeping and pollinating industry and the discussion reinforces that protecting those industries and ultimately our national food security is a shared responsibility,” he said.
“The honey bee industry emergency roundtable was a chance to bring forward practical ideas, prioritise actions and work collectively across industries and different levels of government towards one united goal: ensuring the resilience of the beekeeping sector and the essential pollination services it provides,” Mr Perrett said.
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