Guy Barnett,Minister for Primary Industries and Water
The Tasmanian Liberal Government is delivering support for Tasmania’s honey bee industry with the launch of a program to support the apiary sector’s infrastructure needs.
Beehives in areas rich in leatherwood trees and other floral resources will become easier to access under the first round of grants from the Government’s Bee Industry Futures program.
The Government places a high value on Tasmania’s honey and pollination industries and the value of the sector extends well beyond the production of world-class honey.
This industry is also vital for pollination of Tasmania’s valuable fruit and vegetables crops which is why we committed $500,000 for infrastructure development to allow beekeepers to continue to access floral resources such as leatherwood, manuka and blue gum.
The first round of grants to support the apiary sector totaling up to $100,000 is for remedial work on six roads or vehicle tracks to maintain access to sites in mainly remote areas of the North-West which are on land managed by Sustainable Timber Tasmania or Parks & Wildlife Service.
These roads provide access to more than 1200 hives in mostly leatherwood areas. Most of the hives are then rotated to sites in farming landscapes where they are used for crop pollination.
The Government is proud of the ongoing collaboration, understanding and effort between the apiary and forestry industries.
This was demonstrated most clearly in the formalising of a MoU in 2019 between the Tasmanian Beekeepers Association, Australian Honey-Bee Industry Council and STT.
The Tasmanian Liberal Government understands the importance of our honey and pollination sector and believes improving access to these remote areas will keep hives strong and support local businesses and regional jobs.
Supporting the apiary sector is also essential to achieving the Tasmanian Government’s target to sustainably grow the farm gate value of Tasmania’s agricultural production to $10 billion by 2050.
