TODAY is World Bee Day, which aims to raise awareness of the critical role bees play in safeguarding our food security and the contribution the bee industry makes to economies, the environment and society in general.
In Australia, the European Honey Bee is responsible for the production of over $224 million in products including honey, beeswax, pollen, royal jelly, venom and package bees each year.
SA produces about $15 million worth of products, primarily high-quality honey.
The most significant contribution that honey bees make however, is in pollinating agricultural and horticultural crops.
In Australia, 65 per cent of all plant-based industries depend - to some extent - on honey bee pollination, including almonds, apples, cherries, avocados, berries, small seeds and some broadacre crops, such as canola and lucerne.
The value of these crops in SA is estimated at $1.7 billion per year.
Apiary Alliance of SA chair Danny Le Feuvre said the SA commercial apiary industry was comprised of over 185 registered beekeepers, managing more than 62,000 hives.
"This year, over 40,000 hives will be shifted to the Riverland to pollinate almond orchards for a five-week period from the end of July through August," he said.
"Hives will then be shifted to pollinate other horticultural and agricultural crops across the state from September through to April."
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As part of World Bee Day celebrations, SAAA Members will be making a presentation at the Agricultural Teachers' Association of SA conference being held at the Hahndorf Resort today on the topic 'Bees, Beekeeping and Educational Opportunities' and will also be out in their bee suits supporting World Bee Day celebrations at the Mount Pleasant Farmer's Market on Saturday, May 22, at the Mount Pleasant Showground.
"World Bee Day is a great initiative, shining a light not only on the incredible Honey Bee, but on our hardworking apiarists who work night and day looking after their bees, so that all South Australians not only get to enjoy fantastic locally produced honey and honey products, but all the wonderful food that results from their pollination services," Mr Le Feuvre said.
Australian Honey Bee Industry Council chair Trevor Weatherhead said beekeepers across the nation were urging consumers to better understand the invaluable role bees play in producing what the world eats.
"It is estimated that one in three mouthfuls of food we eat relies on honey bees for pollination," he said.
"If bees became extinct, we would still be able to eat items that do not need them for pollination, such as wheat, rice, oats and potatoes, but our diets would have very little variation because many of the delicious and nutritious foods we consume, foods which are particularly important to our health, would no longer be available.
"There is an aim to have $100b worth of farm gate output produced in Australia by 2030 and our bees will have an important role to play in achieving that target."
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