Discussion about European bee keeping on the Co-op is recorded in general meeting minutes for January, February and April, and give you some background.
At the last meeting Trinh presented a Goolie Bee Club proposed management plan for consideration by the community. The meeting requested that it be posted online, and available for comments.
So, use Leave a comment below if you wish. Comments will be moderated if necessary, so please remain respectful (and not too long), but otherwise they will be there for everybody to read.
Goolawah Co-op Members 
‘JJ, the species you have mentioned are not on the Key Threatening Processes list from the Biodiversity and Conservation act as are European bees, cats, cane toads, lantana, bitou bush foxes etc. Goolawah as a sanctuary can handle bananas, tomatoes and chickens but not an overrun of KTP species, which is inevitable if we are fostering them ie. European bees.
Mick’
Robin Hewitt
Melliferous plants provide forage for a variety of fauna, including insects, which in turn attract insectivorous birds. These birds then feed upon insect pests attacking the 56 fruit trees happily nestled amongst the melliferous plantings. On half-acre blocks there is room for everything,
How are we going to manage introduced plant species – citrus, apple trees, mulberrys, grapes, bananas, etc on Goolawah?
Could those be taking up land we should instead fill with lemon myrtle and sandpaper figs and change our diets accordingly?
JJ, the species you have mentioned are not on the Key Threatening Processes list from the Biodiversity and Concservation act as are European bees, cats, cane toads, lantana, foxes etc. Mick
Gidday JJ. The species you mentioned are not among the Key Threatening Processes listed by the Biodiversity and Conservation Act which include European bees (the species of our debate), cats, cane toads, lantana, bitpu bush, foxes, land clearing etc. There is a lot of denial at Goolawah around bees being as bad as cane toads or land clearing. We can have a functioning sanctuary with some bananas and tomatoes but not with European bees and cane toads.
Rob Hewitt
On the Department of Environment and Heritage website it states that 80% of available forage, meaning nectar, pollen and resin is harvested by feral European Honey Bees. This leaves little for the natives. If someone invaded my shed every time I sat down for a meal, and took 80% of my food, it would not be long before I starved to death. Whether European Honey Bees are feral, or housed in ‘managed’ hives they will steal food from the native fauna. Over the years my site has been covered with native vegetation; in order to attract a diversity of native fauna. In part this is an apology for the deleterious impact my existence has had on the vulnerable environment of Australia. However, in large part the motive is selfish; I love to be surrounded by native birds, in particular the Honey Eaters. Please pernmanently contain you European Honey Bees so that I can enjoy the poetry of avian life.
Mick Clancy again:
EUROPEAN BEES AT GOOLAWAH
Goolawah by-laws state:
8. All cloven-footed animals are banned from Goolawah. Other introduced species are banned from community land, and anyone wanting to run these on their site must submit a plan of management, with regard to soil/water quality, noise abatement and permanent containment, to a general meeting for approval.
There is no doubt European bees are an introduced species. The bees on members’ sites travel long distances, to other members sites, to community land and, notably, to Limeburners National Park which adjoins Goolawah. In no sense are they permanently contained as required by the by-law.
In not meeting the above requirements, those members of Goolawah are in direct contravention of by-law 8, and have been for some time. This has been to the anger of some members of Goolawah, but the Board has not acted on this issue. In fact, at least one current Board member and one past Board member are among the offenders, but this conflict of interest has not been taken into account in decision-making.
Our website bio ‘The Co-op’ states: ‘Community activities and social life include building projects, Men’s Shed, music performance and protection of the environmental values of this special place’. Environmental values compromised by a clear breach of the bylaw (and the Code of Conduct) and the want of some to further promote an invasive species that belongs out on the broad acre farms of vegetables, nuts, fruit trees and plantation forests where the land has already been cleared for agriculture. These are the most ethically and morally sound places for honey to be made.
Impact of European Honey Bees
The European honey bees kept by Goolawah residents will swarm, for reproduction, over-crowding, and Queen-absconding. Professional bee managers know that is not possible to stop swarming, and there can be no total control of swarming because Goolawah people do not take their bees with them on holidays. The bee club will promote more and more hives to members until the swarms we’ve seen in the last few years will double, then triple and get further out of hand. As the local NPWS ranger Andy said “the bee hobbyists are the worst when it comes to swarming”.
The establishment of new colonies due to Goolawah hives swarming into tree hollows (stinging
to death the residents) reduces the number of nesting sites for native hollow-dependent fauna such as birds, snakes, (micro)bats, frogs, Feather Gilders, various species of native bees, and listed vulnerable species Sugar Gilders and Squirrel Gilders.
In this way, the keeping of European Honey Bees actively reduces the biodiversity of not only Goolawah, but of the adjacent Limeburners National Park.
There is no doubt of this: these bees are listed as a ‘Key Threatening Process’ in the Biodiversity and Conservation Act along with cats, dogs, camphor laurel, lantana, crazy yellow ant, land clearing, foxes etc.
Let’s extrapolate the promotion of European honey bees at Goolawah. If half the sites have a hive then the amount of resources taken from native animals and insects can add up to 10,000kg of nectar, pollen and resin. This figure comes from an average of 40kg of honey harvested from one per hive per year plus the feeding and (weight) turnover of the hives’ bees minimum three times per year.
Goolawah as a Sanctuary
The requirement of by-laws 7 and 8 was derived from extensive discussion among Goolawah members regarding the type of community they wanted to live in. There has always been a strong feeling among the majority of community members that they wish to maximise biodiversity, and as far as possible live with nature. This is reflected in the ban on dogs and cats etc. and has been expressed in surveys of community members. The keepers of European bees at Goolawah ignore this sentiment with the promotion of a Key Threatening Process and directly undermine a key reason why many people bought shares at Goolawah. Honey, like cheese, milk, beef, pork, soy milk, petrol etc can be sourced from elsewhere.
Exclusion zones
The negative impact of European honey bees on biodiversity is recognised around Australia. The NT has banned European bee hives from all national parks and has a 10 kilometre exclusion zone in place. Queensland has banned all Europeann bee hives from all national parks and has 4 years to go with the phasing out process of all licences. Victoria has scrapped any new Category 2 (3.2km radius bee foraging range) licences. South Australia has bans in place in all Wilderness Protection Areas. No new bee-keeping licenses are to be granted in NSW National Parks and if historical licences are not renewed they are cancelled forever. Limeburners National Park (the biggest neighbour of Goolawah) has banned commercial hives from within its bounds.
European bees bring an assortment of mites and diseases that we can’t afford for our many species of native bees.
The so-called ‘Management Plan’
The document presented by Trinh and posted on the website has fundamental faults. The NSW code of practice cited is written by the commercial bee lobbyists and there is no fundamental test to get a licence, just sign a piece of paper and that’s it.
As was commented on the website re feral bee eradication ‘Realistically there is probably little we can do to reduce this population.’ , especially as the ‘bee club’ won’t be able to put forward a realistic plan due to their misunderstanding of the logistics and time commitment for this operation.
Big Picture
Australia is number one in mammal extinction because of our inability to take action on KeyThreatening Processes and one of these is the European bee. Just like the now non-existent Goolie Garden Club the initial enthusiasm dies out, but with the bees the hives remain and will pump out the swarms willy-nilly year after year (as is already happening) continue to steal and destroy valuable resources of flora and fauna. We can pressure the state government to implement more productive laws that exist in other states and territories.
Let’s underpin the values that make Goolawah a sanctuary and get the bees away from our forests and out to where they belong.
Trinh has posted an outdated (over a decade old) report that was snubbed by National Parks. The Northern Territory has banned commercial and hobby bee hives from all National Parks and has a ten kilometre exclusion zone in place. Queensland has banned all commercial and hobby bee hives from all National Parks and has four years to go in the phasing out process. No new licences are
granted in NSW National Parks and if the current historical licences aren’t renewed they are cancelled forever. Limeburners National Park (our biggest neighbour) has banned commercial hives from within its bounds. Victoria Dept of Environment and Priamary Industries has scrapped any new category 2 (3.2 km radius bee foraging range) licences. South Australia has bans in place on all Wilderness Protection Areas.
For those looking for some information on what the Australian government has ruled. All available online but happy to email you info if requested 🙂
On Monday 16 June 2008, the House Standing Committee on Primary Industries and Resources tabled its report on the Inquiry into the Future Development of the Australian Honey Bee Industry, More Than Honey: the future of the Australian honey bee and pollination industries.
House of Representatives Committees Conclusions
The NSW Scientific Committee, an independent body of scientists, has made a final determination to list “Competition from Feral Honeybees” as a Key Threatening Process under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (TSC Act). The listing does not preclude (prevent from happening) the undertaking of commercial beekeeping activities.
The Final Determination does not affect the keeping of managed honeybees. All current regulations regarding beekeeping practices remain in place and beekeepers are not required to alter their current practices.
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In the committee’s view, a critical challenge facing the Australian honey bee industry is resource security. Access to floral resources underpins the viability of the honey bee industry. The principal sources of nectar and pollen for the production of honey and the maintenance of hive health are native forests species—especially eucalypts and leatherwood (Tasmania)—and some weed and crop species. Despite this, beekeeper access to native flora is under increasing pressure from land use change, declining access to public land, land clearing and the impact of bushfires.
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The committee notes, and wishes to highlight, that the level of access to floral resources limits the size of the industry and therefore the capacity to provide pollination services. Access to native flora is therefore essential to crop pollination in Australia. Much of our native flora is on public land, which is increasingly being locked away in national parks and nature reserves. In the event of a Varroa incursion, beekeeper access to public land will be essential to the maintenance of many agricultural and horticultural industries.
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The committee therefore believes that giving beekeepers access to public lands is essential to the future of the honey bee industry and pollination dependent industries. Governments must ensure this to maintain the viability of major agricultural industries and to ensure the nation’s food security.
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In turn, access to public lands requires the industry to uphold environmental standards which protect the natural environment and minimise the impact of the industry upon it. The committee notes and endorses the industry’s work towards a National Code of Conduct and the development of an Environmental Management System, supported by funding from the Australian Government. This is essential to beekeeper access to public land.
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The committee also notes that the evidence for the environmental impact of honey bees on native flora and fauna is at best equivocal. There is evidence for both positive and negative impacts, but the overall picture is of a species that has become naturalised within the Australian environment and is now endemic to Australia. There is a case for managing certain environmental impacts, such as is happening in Western Australia, but no case for excluding the industry from public lands. The committee is of the view that the ‘precautionary principle’ should be reversed in the case of bees—that their exclusion should only be justified by positive evidence of environmental harm.
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The committee also believes that revegetation schemes under the Natural Heritage Trust and plantations established for the purpose of obtaining carbon credits could be established under multi-use principles that would allow for ‘bee friendly’ plantings. The committee is of the view that the public investment is best justified by obtaining the broadest possible public benefit.
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The committee is also concerned about the impact of bushfires and fire management upon the honey bee industry. While recognising the responsibility of land managers to a range of stakeholders, it would appear to the committee that land managers and beekeepers could quite easily coordinate and communicate with each other as to their respective needs, and that public lands could be better managed to protect the floral resources available to the industry and, therefore, to industry more widely.
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Recommendation 5
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government, in conjunction with State and Territory governments, establish guidelines for beekeeper access to public lands and leasehold lands, including national parks, with a view to securing the floral resources of the Australian honey bee industry and pollination dependent industries.
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Recommendation 6
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government provide incentives for the planting and conservation of melliferous flora under Commonwealth funded revegetation projects and carbon credit schemes.
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Recommendation 7
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government fund research into the impact of fire management on the Australian honey bee industry with a view to establishing honey bee industry friendly fire management practices.
I support the Goolawah Bee Club.
My simplistic understanding is:
1. “Feral Bees” refers to the population of ‘wild’ european bees that are already well established in the bush. Realistically there is probably little we can do to reduce this population.
2. Managing ‘Bee Club’ hives would include well understood measures to avoid bees swarming, ‘going bush’ and competing with native bees.
3. While we might encourage some neighbours to participate in the Bee Club and follow good practice there is nothing we can do about uncooperative neighbours and their hives.
4. If we want to help native bees there are well established methods for ‘construction & installation of nesting boxes and native bee hotels’. These can also include collection of honey and wax.
That’s my two-bob’s worth.
JT