AN auction of vacant apiary sites in state forests surrounding Batemans Bay has sparked widespread condemnation from beekeepers in NSW.
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Forestry Corporation auctioned 24 vacant sites in the region by an online auction on May 27 that was part of an allocation trial.
Three buyers won the 24 sites, with prices ranging from $1311.33 to $3500 per annum for a five-year lease.
Under the previous system, beekeepers applied for permits to use vacant sites, for an annual fee of about $95.
The NSW Apiarists Association believes the auction threatens to further destabilise an already vulnerable industry, as well as the agricultural enterprises that depend on it.
Executive councillor Neil Bingley, who has hives in the Batemans Bay region, said he was “horrified” by the auction and its outcome.
Mr Bingley said he understood the majority of sites went to
pollination-service providers, whose bees pollinate commercial crops, rather than produce quality honey.
He said the auction inflated access prices to “completely unsustainable levels”.
“It seems to be pollinators who can probably, in the short term, afford to pay these prices, but the industry can’t sustain it as a whole,” Mr Bingley said.
He said the region was “spotted gum country”, which only flowered once every four to 10 years.
For the average beekeeper, this could mean very small returns on the up to $17,500 investment for a forestry site.
“In a really good flowering year, which is never guaranteed, especially with droughts and prescribed burns and so on, the potential value of honey for that site would be approximately $15,000 gross, at best,” Mr Bingley said.
“At worst, there won’t be any decent flowering events at that site during the five-year permit period and the beekeeper gets nothing for his $17,500 investment.”
Hobby beekeeper Neville Aurousseau, of Tomakin, said native flora and domestic crops relied on bees for fertilisation.
“Forestry or National Parks should be paying the apiarists to place their hives within these areas for this purpose or allowing this placement at no cost,” he said.
“The importance of pollination is critical to our very existence, as bees are responsible for the seeding of one-third or more of our world food supply – all stone fruit, citrus, almonds and all forms of nuts, corn, wheat, maize and most types of vegetables.
“Encouragement should be given here to the hobby apiarist to keep bees for this very purpose.”
Related coverage: Trial seeks fairer deal: Forestry, Beekeeping industry 'on the brink'
