Bees depend on honey industry for survival

As the world is abuzz with talk of declining bee populations, a new book by Cliff Van Eaton has revealed that the issue is dependent on economic factors as well as environmental ones. In Manuka: the biography of an extraordinary honey, Van Eaton argues that it is not just a decline in bees, but a decline in beekeepers that is the problem.

Van Eaton says that while the media has reported hive numbers going down in the United States and parts of Europe, New Zealand beekeepers actually increased their hive numbers from 290,000 in 2005 to over 450,000 in 2013. While the wild bee population of New Zealand’s North Island has been all but completely eliminated by the destructive Varroa mite, Van Eaton notes that commercial beekeepers have the ability to rapidly expand the populations of their bees, potentially doubling the numbers of their hives in a period as short as six weeks.

The difference, said Van Eaton, is the economic conditions of the beekeepers. He said, “If US beekeepers struggle to make a go of it because they can’t achieve a reasonable profit from the honey, they are less likely to want to carry on, regardless of how important their bees are for the pollination of the nation’s crops.”

The New Zealand honey industry is being kept alive by manuka honey, whose medicinal properties have helped turn it into one of the valuable honeys in the world. The industry is now worth $140 million a year.

Honey bees can no longer exist as wild creatures in most parts of the world; as a result, it is falling on beekeepers to help keep populations thriving. Van Eaton states that the rest of the population can help contribute to beekeeping efforts by buying more of the honeys that are produced around the world, at higher prices.

“Think of it as your offering to those modern-day versions of the ancient priests,” he said. “They’re the beekeepers keeping alive the spirit of our age-old relationship with honey bees.”

Manuka: the biography of an extraordinary honey is available from www.exislepublishing.com.au and bookshops.