News | Importance of Bees

CANBERRA - The nation's horticulture industry would suffer a $2 billion sting if not for the humble bee.

A report for the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation has found that without bees, around 10,000 jobs would disappear from largely rural areas.

And because bees are instrumental in plant pollination, Australians would also have to import some of their favourite fruit and vegetables, including avocados, cauliflower, onions and blueberries.

RIRDC found the honey bee industry alone was worth around $50m a year; but crops from almonds to watermelons depended on bees carrying their pollen from plant to plant.

Without bees, the value of production from 35 horticulture crops would drop at least $1.7 billion, because of the importance of honey bees and native bees to other types of crops.

"Honey bee pollination is essential for some crops, while for others it raises yield and quality," the report found.

"In addition to the 35 crops for which data was available, a wide range of pastures, including lucerne and clover, are pollinated by honey bees, hence this estimate understates the potential value of the pollination services."

Farmers would not be the only losers if a disease wiped out the bee population.

"With such an outbreak, not only would growers of honey bee-dependent crops and pastures suffer, but so too would Australian consumers, with the sudden and sometimes complete decline in the availability of many fresh fruits and nuts and some major vegetables such as carrots and onions, not to mention honey," it said.

"The capacity to import many of the products that would be affected is limited due to quarantine restrictions, and prices for what remained would be driven up to the detriment of the consumer."