Author: Zhu Li 1, JAY 2 (1.Wuhan Comprehensive Experimental Station of National Bee Industry Technology System, Wuhan Baochun Royal Jelly Co., Ltd., Wuhan 430000, Hubei, Wuhan 430000, China; 2. Melbourne, Australia)
Australia is the only country in the world without mites and one of the top 10 honey producers; currently Australian commercial beekeeping is mainly concentrated in the southeast coastal area, and there is no specific area. European honeybees are the most common bee species in Australia, and beekeeping is mainly used to produce honey, beeswax and provide commercial pollination services for crops, among others. The quality of honey in Australia is relatively good, and honey products are mostly exported to 38 countries and regions in bulk and pre-packaged form. Major export markets include the United Kingdom, Indonesia, North America and Saudi Arabia. In recent years, the annual production of honey in Australia has been stable at 25,000 to 30,000 t. The overall estimated gross annual output (GVP) of the bee industry from 2018 to 2019 was $147 million. From 2015 to 2018, The annual export volume of Australian honey remained at around 4 000 t, and the rest was sold domestically. According to the Australian Federal Bureau of Statistics, the top 6 countries and regions of Australian honey exports are Singapore, Hong Kong, Chinese mainland, Canada, the United Kingdom and Malaysia. More than 70% of Australian honey is produced by native honey sources, with the main source plants being eucalyptus of various types. Australian bee products are mainly honey, beeswax, small amounts of pollen and propolis. As the area under cultivation of fruit plants continues to increase, so does the demand for commercial pollination services for bees. Taking almonds as an example, as of 2019, the average cost of pollination services for a single flowering period for flat box (8 box bees) was $120 (about $4.9 for $1).
1. Beekeeping groups and beekeeping patterns
In 2019, there were around 30,000 registered beekeepers in Australia, with a total population of 670,000 bees (see Table 1 for details). Registered beekeepers in Victoria and New South Wales each account for nearly one-third (31 per cent) of the total. Only 6% of the total number of beekeepers with more than 50 bee colonies registered nationwide, the rest are amateur beekeepers, and the total output value of registered beekeepers accounts for more than 80% of australia's total bee products and services. Most commercial beekeepers have 400 to 800 colonies, and a very small number of beekeepers have more than 10,000 colonies.
Australia's commercial form of beekeeping is mainly based on a combination of large and small transfers. Some beekeepers make as many as 20 transitions a year due to pollination or honey picking needs. Different plants in different parts of Australia provide commercial beekeepers with a source of honey powder for each season. The transition is usually in the range of 200 to 300 km, and a small number of beekeepers will transfer more than 1 000 km. Transition tools are dominated by trailers and trucks equipped with boom cranes or forklifts, with colonies ranging from 80 to hundreds of colonies per transition. Like most parts of the world, Honey production and bee colony conditions in Australia are mainly affected by climate, droughts, floods, forest fires and bee pests and diseases; beekeepers feed syrup and pollen supplements when there is not enough honey powder. Feeding, unlike in China, takes place during the day, transporting pallets by vehicle to carry large barrels of syrup, but is relatively rare in Australia and is only used as a short-term mitigation option.
Amateur beekeepers account for more than 90% of Australian beekeepers, amateur beekeeping models are different, the most important is courtyard beekeeping, the law stipulates that every 500 m2 allows a group of bees, many amateurs raise 1 to 2 boxes of bees at home, there are also very few beeskeeping more than 2 groups, but even in the courtyard of the home to raise 1 box of bees, if there are neighbor complaints affecting personal safety, the government department will issue a notice to move away, all beekeepers must be registered with the relevant departments of the state government, in short, beekeeping must be legal and compliant. The purpose of amateur beekeeping is not purely for honey, but a hobby, that is, beekeeping for fun, the bees as pets to raise, this kind of beekeeper even if 1 box 2 boxes are very willing to invest, beekeeping tools are readily available. Another model is urban roof and park beekeeping, roof beekeeping, moving bees to the roof of high-rise buildings fixed, that is, fixed beekeeping, park beekeeping is the same. Honey more to take honey, less honey to the bees to leave rations, the production of honey donated a small part to welfare agencies, the rest of the commercial honey sales, the municipal government gives symbolic subsidies every year, such beekeepers are very few, the main purpose of their beekeeping is to protect urban vegetation while taking into account the production of honey. Many regions have set up beekeeping clubs, the largest amateur beekeeping club has more than 300 people, there will be regular activities every month, including technical and academic exchanges, beekeepers do technical exchanges with each other, while inviting university professors or professional beekeepers to make relevant reports, the club charges membership fees to members every year, and non-members must purchase tickets for each exchange activity. Amateur beekeepers are the main force of Australian beekeeping, just like China, they are simply happy beekeeping for hobbies and ecological protection.
2. Bee species and diseases
Australia has native and introduced bee species, with more than 1,500 native bees, some living in groups and some living alone. Native bees are rich in color and size, but they produce less honey compared to European honey bees, so European bees are still the first choice for Australian beekeepers. There are currently 3 subspecies of The European honey bee in Australia (see Table 2 for details). Most Australian beekeepers have bee colonies that cross.
At present, there is no harm from bee mites and the retention of purebred wasps, and the queen bee bred in Australia is very popular at home and abroad. Australia's technology for breeding queen bees is mature, good at the selection of superior genes and has ideal breeding conditions. The sale of Australian queen bees is usually between September and March of the following year. The queen bee is divided into a production king and a breeding king, the latter of which reproduces by artificial insemination. The price difference between the two is 10 times. The number of production kings is more than 40 Australian dollars / only, while the breeding kings are generally more than 400 Australian dollars / only. Australian queen breeders mail queens to customers by direct mail, mostly using wooden king cages with feeding sugar blocks as the carrier of delivery.
Although there are no mites in Australia, bees are affected by a variety of pests and diseases, mainly hive beetles and wax moths, bacterial diseases such as American larval disease and European larval disease, fungi including chalk disease and microsporidiosis, the former is common. Australian beekeeper treatment measures include regular replacement of young queen bees, timely replacement of bee spleens, destruction of infected bee spleens and hives, and periodic radiation disinfection of vacant nest spleens, hives and equipment. At the same time, the Australian states have clear regulations that for specific pests and diseases, they must be reported to the agricultural department of the state government after discovery. Hive small beetles in the Australian hive harm is serious, there is no special treatment, local beekeepers mainly use beetles to interfere, play a certain control role, but can not completely solve the problem. Chalk disease and microsporidosis Some beekeepers take precautions and allow development to wait for the natural recovery of the bee colony. The author went to the bee farm to see some swarm nests piled up into small hill-like larval carcasses at the door, but the hives were full of covered honey and extra spleens, the swarm was very strong, and most beekeepers burned the infected bee colonies.
3. Source of income for professional beekeepers
The main production period of Australian honey is from October to March of the year. Local beekeepers extract honey when the honey spleen is covered with more than 3/4. Usually 2 to 3 days before the honey collection, a partition is placed between the successor box to be taken and the second layer of the relay box to facilitate the change of box to retrieve the honey, and the bees are driven away by bee blowing machines and smoke smokers. The vast majority of beekeepers work closely with honey marketing companies to hand over the honey they produce to be sold, and Australia grades the quality of honey by taste and colour. Light-colored honey usually has a milder taste and is also considered more economically valuable. The sale of Australian honey is mainly based on contract sales and self-sale. Raw honey and single plant varieties of honey tend to be more expensive. The overall quality and price of Australian honey is higher than in most countries. Currently, unfiltered raw honey purchase prices start from $5.5 to $6.0/kg, while packaged retail honey starts at $20/kg.
In 2014-2015, the average honey production in South Australia was higher than in other states. South Australian beekeepers produce an average of nearly 33 t of honey, with a single hive producing the most honey (average 91.8 kg). Although NSW beekeepers raise more colonies on average, they produce an average of 26 t of honey per beekeeper due to lower average yields per bee colony (49.7 kg). Beekeepers in Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania produce an average of more than 22 t of honey, while beekeepers in Queensland produce 12.5 t. In 2014-2015, the national beekeeper bought an average of 5.5 t of honey, and Australian beekeepers sold an average of 53% of their honey to contract processors. About 17 percent were sold to other processors, with the remainder going directly to retail (12 percent), local markets (10 percent) and door-to-door sales (6 percent). The average sales of direct export honey are small. The situation is similar in all states except Tasmania. A large proportion of beekeepers in Tasmania sell honey to other processors and direct retail (34% and 33% respectively), and 8% export honey directly. Beekeepers of all sizes sell most of the honey to processors or directly retail. However, small beekeepers have a higher percentage of local markets and door-to-door sales than businesses with 250 or more beehives.
Incomes for professional beekeepers vary from state to state, with Tasmania $301,200 per capita and New South Wales $248,100 per capita. The average income of beekeepers in the country was the highest in 2014-2015. Queensland beekeepers earn the lowest income from beekeeping, averaging $62,700 per person.
Nationally, income from paid pollination services is the second largest component, averaging $19,500 per professional beekeeper. In New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, each professional beekeeper earns an average of $20,000 to $27,000 per professional beekeeper from pollination services. The average income from all other bee production activities (queen bee, beeswax, beehive, packed bees and pollen production) is less than 5 per cent ($8,500) of total revenue.
Across Australia, the number of beekeepers providing paid pollination services has increased——— survey results show that 44% of professional beekeepers conducted paid pollination services in 2014-2015, up from 28% in 2006-2007. With the exception of Western Australia and Queensland, the proportion of beekeepers providing paid pollination services has increased in all states. South Australia and Tasmania have beekeepers paying the highest proportion for pollination services, although beekeepers provide fewer of these services than in countries such as New South Wales where bee pollination needs are. Large-scale beekeeping enterprises have a higher proportion of pollination services (33%). The largest number of beekeeping enterprises engaged in paid pollination services in 2006-2007 and 2014-2015.
In Victoria surveyed, 94 per cent of paid pollination came from almond crops, with an average of 502 beehives used for every 100 hm2 crops. The most common crop type in Victoria is oilseeds, including rapeseed and sunflower (18%). Almonds are also the primary pollinator crop for beekeepers in NSW and South Australia, accounting for 79% and 65% of total pollination services respectively. In South Australia, two-thirds of professional beekeepers use alfalfa as the second largest pollinating crop. In Tasmania, cherries are the main pollinating crop for beekeepers (92%). In short, The Australian professional beekeeping enterprises have a very clear division of labor, there are professional breeding king farms specializing in the production and sale of breeding kings, most of the breeding kings are exported to Europe, America and Japan and other countries, domestic amateur beekeepers will not breed kings, and the demand for the queen of the queen every year is relatively large. Crop pollination has a professional pollinator to arrange the bee colony into the field, the beekeeper according to the requirements of the pollination company to pull the bees to the designated location, other pollinators arrange processing, until the end of pollination, the beekeeper to the designated place to pull the bees away. Pollination revenues are paid uniformly by pollinators on a contract basis, and there are also beekeeping companies that specialize in the production of honey. Australian beekeepers pay special attention to the inheritance of professional beekeeping, and when communicating with them, it is not the amount of beekeeping income but the introduction of the inheritance of family beekeeping, proud of their fathers, grandparents, great-grandfathers and even earlier until how many years of their own beekeeping. The average Australian resident has a special love of bees regardless of age, and elderly people from three years old to eighty years old love to learn about bees.
4. Professional beekeeper
Australian professional beekeepers have a well-established beekeeping model, characterized by high efficiency and mechanical equipment. As mentioned above, many large-scale professional beekeepers have a good family heritage, which includes numerous honey source sites and regular transfer routes. These professional beekeepers make up to 20 transitions a year, ranging from one or two hundred kilometers to four or five hundred kilometers. Depending on the season, they will take the bees to different areas to ensure that the bees have plenty of powder at all times. In Victoria, for example, many beekeepers will move their colonies to the western part of the state near the desert before winter to obtain some powder honey from desert bushes to maintain the strength of the bee colony. In order to improve efficiency, Australian professional beekeepers manage bee colonies on a beehive basis, for example, during the honey flow period, they will add nest foundations or empty spleens in whole boxes without fine management. This method is mainly due to the need for large-scale management and high labor costs. Beehives are basically 8-frame boxes, most of which use double boxes to produce children, and are always placed on professional beekeeping trays. According to the beekeeper's own equipment and habits, there can be 2, 4, 6 boxes of bees and a tray, and each row of 2 to 3 beehives on the tray is tied with professional tools. Among them, 4-box pallets are the most common, with pallet sizes of 1 120 mm × 710 mm, which just carry 4 boxes of 8-box beehives.
The transfer transport vehicle is a professional trailer or truck, and the loading and unloading equipment is mainly a boom or forklift. Smaller beekeepers often use trailers, which can carry 20 to 80 boxes per car. This type of beekeeper mostly uses 4-wheel drive pickup trucks to haul trailers, which are flatbed types. Due to the size and weight limitations of the carrier, this type of beekeeper does not apply forklifts and generally mounts the boom in front of the trailer, which saves space and facilitates loading and unloading. Larger beekeepers use small and medium-sized trucks, some with booms in the rear of the truck to facilitate the loading and unloading of beehives, while larger beekeepers use forklifts. Take the commonly used 12 t truck (7.2 m) and 4-box pallet units, for example, which carry 144 double-box bee colonies in a single time, i.e. two pallets are placed on the truck, one is 9 rows and 2 columns, and the remaining space in the rear is used to load the forklift and water tank. In addition to the above equipment configuration, beekeepers need to make various preparations in advance, including the search for a site, seeking permission for the use of private land around or obtaining government approval for the use of public venues, this process may take up to a year, while Australia is dominated by various types of eucalyptus nectar, most of which bloom every two years, the flower bud period can be as long as 11 months, and its pollen nectar is also affected by the climate, so experienced local beekeepers tend to examine the flower buds of the year in multiple corresponding sites several months in advance. According to each bee release site, the transfer route for the current year is formulated. When the bees are placed in the new field, the beekeeper will come to the site for an inspection every one to two weeks, the main contents of which include the overall situation of the site, the replacement of the bee water source, the inspection of the outside of each box, the spot check of the group situation and the honey and powder situation, and so on. Experienced beekeepers anticipate the local honey source in the season to prepare the full box of empty spleen or nest foundation in advance and replace the adjustment box immediately. The mature honey to be picked up will be moved to the top and the escape bee board will be placed so that the whole box can be taken next time, and some areas also use the blower to blow away the bees in order to collect the honey.
5. Bee products and markets
Australian bee products are mainly honey, mainly eucalyptus honey, eucalyptus trees in Australia have hundreds of species, eucalyptus trees that can flow honey are only more than 40 kinds, and eucalyptus trees that can flow honey are not honey every year, but also divided into large and small years, the color of honey from light yellow to dark amber. Honey is very popular with locals, often eaten with bread or cereals, and is also used in cooking and desserts. Its per capita consumption of honey is one of the highest in the world. Mainly sold in two major supermarkets (Woolworth and Coles), honey prices average 14 to 24 Australian dollars / kg, and honey with Chinese import ingredients is 6 to 12 Australian dollars / kg. Australia's natural ecological environment and honey source is one of the best countries in the world. With a vast land area and a huge arable land area, it is an advanced agricultural country, and the quality of honey in the country is also one of the best in the world. There is no quality problem with locally produced honey, but there are big problems with the country's imported honey, mainly imported Chinese honey. In 2018, the Australian management department conducted a sampling inspection of the market, the media released the sampling results, and some honey fructose syrup was confirmed by the relevant departments as imported from China, and the media reports not only made the Chinese community a household name, but also made the Australian national women and children known. When I turned the bees to the rapeseed field, the local farmer asked me if I was Japanese? I answered: I am Chinese; he asked: Will your beekeeping take China's fake honey to the bee farm to sell? I A: We specialize in beekeeping in Australia and only sell locally produced honey; the farmer smiles and gives a thumbs up. Although Australia is one of the countries with the best honey quality, but the original raw honey is extremely rare, in addition to being bought in organic food stores and bee farms, other markets are difficult to see, the quality of honey from the origin of the market is very good, but all honey will crystallize, the vast majority of honey is heated at a high temperature of 70 ° C for a long time, so that crystalline honey never crystallizes, all supermarkets can not see crystalline honey. Catering is also Australia's second largest demand for honey, many restaurants use honey as a condiment for cooking food, drinks and bakeries also have demand, mainly 13 kg and 27 kg packaging, the average selling price of 15 to 20 Australian dollars. This kind of market demand occupies a certain proportion, the biggest feature of the honey quality has no requirements, the expiration, expiration and production of small packages of residual materials, in the catering cooking needs sweeteners, a large part of the restaurants use this type of honey. The third largest market is the Chinese gift shop, duty-free shop and purchasing point, after all, Australian health care products are deeply loved by Chinese, the protagonist of bee product consumption is Chinese and Chinese tourists who come to Australia, 500 g of honey from 15 to 60 Australian dollars, such market water is very deep, bee products are very rich, honey, royal jelly, propolis, propolis, propolis are readily available, from oral health care treatment to beauty topicals, and the price is not cheap. Oxymy and propolis products are all rubber sacs, the main package is 80 to 100 grains, the price is 30 to 50 Australian dollars, the price of the Chinese gift shop is generally lower than that of the duty-free shop, all propolis royal pulp capsules are imported from China and then packaged in Australia, transformed into the place of origin of Australia. The author peeled off the capsules to taste separately, the starch content in the king pulp capsules exceeded the taste of the royal pulp, and there was no propolis taste at all after the propolis taste. There are Chinese friends know that I am in Australia beekeeping, often buy propolis royal pulp capsules after consulting me, ask australia of propolis royal pulp quality, every time I hear the consultation I always laughed, replied that buying propolis royal jelly in Australia is not as good as going back to China to buy, it is possible to buy the quality is better than in Australia to buy, friends ask me why, I will clearly tell them that the propolis royal jelly bought in Australia is the heart of Australia's skin China. All friends do not understand, in fact, propolis royal jelly capsules are all imported from China and then packaged in Australia, turning into Australian treasures. New Zealand Manuka honey and bee venom skin care products are the main force of Chinese consumption in the daigou store, Manuka honey is on average 90 ~ 120 Australian dollars / kg, bee venom cream 20 g up to 50 Australian dollars, bee venom mask 10 pieces of more than 20 Australian dollars, through the Australian local beekeeper Lindsay Callaway communication, most of the Manuka honey is not from Manuka, a lot of Manuka honey belongs to add other ingredients, the real Manuka honey Australia is not worse than New Zealand quality, The price is also lower than New Zealand Manuka honey. According to beekeeper Lindsay Callaway, there are more than 80 species of Manuka plants in Australia and more than a dozen varieties of Manuka that rival New Zealand. The self-sale model of beekeeping farmers mainly combines beekeeping and tourism, and large-scale farmers independently develop extended products in addition to selling honey. Such as: beeswax is mainly used in the manufacture of candles, lip balm, skin care products, furniture polishes and so on. Consumers are mainly australians, and every tourist bee farm is very hot. Royal jelly in Australia is loved by Asians, but Australia produces neither royal jelly nor propolis, and all propolis and royal jelly products come from imports, the main importer is China.
6. Feel and share
In the past 12 years, the author has learned a lot about the Australian beekeeping industry through the honey export trade to the establishment of bee farms, and now I will share my personal experience and experience with you:
(1) Australia is a large agricultural country, bees less honey source, very suitable for beekeeping, whether it is the farmer planting rapeseed area or the national forest park honey source plants, can only be described inexhaustible, the first time the bees turned to the rapeseed field, in advance to the northern region of Melbourne to drive 400 km everywhere are rape flowers, completely into the ocean of flowers, but along the road did not see a group of bees, but also really fulfilled the people do not beekeeping day beekeeping.
(2) The degree to which Australians love bees is greatly unexpected, in my bee farm, whether it is a child or an elderly person, there is a great interest in bees, there is a desire to open the box to understand the bee world, which is beyond the reach of the Chinese people.
(3) In Australia, honey not only enters the vast majority of households, but also catering companies have a great demand for honey, and Australia is a country where the export volume of honey is less than the amount of imports, which is the same as what I learned when I went to South Korea in 2018 to investigate the beekeeping industry.
(4) The Australian government attaches great importance to beekeeping, the relevant laws and regulations on beekeeping are relatively sound, professional beekeepers must register, transfer bee farms, each time they transfer land, they must apply to the local government to pay a certain fee, beekeepers will enjoy the right to use the honey source in the region, other bee farms will not beekeeping here, and the government will make unified arrangements.
(5) Smart Chinese and Chinese tourists buying Chinese propolis royal jelly in Australia makes me wonder, a country that does not produce royal pulp and does not produce propolis can sell propolis royal jelly capsules very hot, which makes me feel incredible. Especially a friend of mine in Wuhan, I must buy him Australian propolis, I repeatedly explained that buying propolis in Australia is not as good as I bought it for you in China, but he always did not listen to me, oil and salt do not enter, there is no way, every time he returns to China, he must bring him Chinese propolis royal jelly capsules produced in Australia. Every time I buy propolis and bring it back, I silently scold in my heart, "There is really money and no place to spend." ”
(6) The concept of Australian national consumption is completely different from the concept of Consumption of Chinese people, once they agree with the purchase of goods even if you increase the price, he will still insist on buying, even if the price of peers is cheaper, they will always insist on consistently buying the brands and products they agree with. My honey farm sells honey prices 40% to 100% higher than supermarkets, through a consumption after the customer recognition will always insist on buying; unlike Chinese consumers who want horses to run and horses do not eat grass, I hope that your quality is higher than the sky, I hope that your price is lower than the horizon, this deformed consumption concept makes China's production enterprises and sales enterprises miserable, the author feels very deeply.
(7) Australian beekeepers, whether professional beekeepers or amateur beekeepers, the biggest interest in beekeeping is the interest and family inheritance, beekeeping to make money is not the first goal, on the basis of the inheritance of the cause and then want to make money, professional beekeepers mechanized beekeeping tools are readily available, beekeeping labor intensity compared with other local laborers is also a more difficult occupation, but their beekeeping happiness is superfluous pain, at this point Chinese beekeepers and Australia are exactly the opposite.
The problem of beekeeping aging is not only a problem in China at this stage, but also in Australia. The vast majority of amateur beekeepers are all elderly people in their seventies and eighties, professional beekeepers are everywhere in their sixties and seventies, and it is rare to be under fifty years old. Through the exchange of local beekeepers in Australia, they are also facing the next generation may not be able to pass on, which is not a national problem, but the biggest problem facing the future development of the world's beekeeping industry.