CEO Report March 2026

The first few months of 2026 have reinforced just how rapidly the operating environment for Australian beekeepers is changing. Varroa is now an established reality across much of the eastern seaboard, and industry continues to adapt to varroa management. At the same time, seasonal conditions and ongoing cost pressures are continuing to challenge profitability for many businesses.

Honey production appears to average to well below average across most areas. Small increases in honey prices have been welcomed by many but for some the price is almost irrelevant if they don’t have any to sell. South Australian beekeepers have reported another terrible production season for the second year in a row. NSW and QLD beekeepers have been reporting average yields which is similar to WA and Tas.

Fuel Crisis

Both Jon and I have been participating in a number of forums conveying the importance of the honeybee industries access to fuel. This has included attending the National Emergency Management Agencies – National Coordination Mechanism meetings. We have been proactively communicating the importance of our industry and the impacts to the broader agricultural sector and food security if rationing was implemented and our industry wasn’t prioritised. We will keep representing our industry at the different forums as the situation develops.

Operation Decker – Federal Investigation into Varroa

AHBIC has been actively vocalising our concerns around the recent findings that have been published by DAFF into the varroa incursion.  We believe the industry deserves a deeper response than what has been handed down. We will continue to demand from the Australian Government a deeper review that industry can use to better inform our industry biosecurity investments.

Varroa resistance to pyrethroids

Several apiaries in Northern NSW and Southeastern QLD have been detected with gene mutations for resistance.  This is a terrible development for the industry that is already struggling to adapt and manage mite populations.  It is still early days in terms of understanding the spread and if it is locally developed resistance or a new population of mites. I have written a more detailed separate article in this newsletter detailing the situation as it currently stands.

Imported Honey

DAFF have received the results of the honey testing program from the National Measurement Institute Labs and are in the process of interoperating the results. AHBIC are maintaining close communications with the DAFF team and will provide further updates as they come available.

We continue to pursue suspected adulterated honey on shelves and report mislabelling of products claiming to be honey, not derived from bees to food authorities and the ACCC.

AHBIC board meeting

AHBIC meets face to face twice a year, once at the AGM in July and once early in the year. The rest of the AHBIC board meetings are conducted online to save time and money.  We always make the most of the face-to-face meetings by holding several workshops around the board meeting to deep dive on strategy and hot button topics.

In late February the AHBIC board met in Lismore, hosted by the Southern Cross University.  The board workshopped a wide range of topics including AHBIC’s communication strategy, a check-in against strategic plan progress and AGM motions, as well as planning for the 2026 AGM in Launceston.

At this years AGM there will be two board vacancies for election. If you are passionate about our industry and want to shape the national industry policies and direction, then think about putting your hand up to join the AHBIC board in July 2026. Get in contact if you would like to know more about the process.

National Food Security Strategy

The federal government have highlighted food security as a focus area for the Albanese Government. AHBIC has been working hard to ensure honey bees are included in the conversation as the enabler that underpins food security in Australia.  As a result, AHBIC has provided submissions, attended national food security workshops and been involved in thought pieces underscoring the importance of honey bees.

It is important that our industry is loud in the food security discussion and I encourage you to participate in the national discussion where you can. Feeding Australia

Maximum Residue Limits (MRL’S)

MRL’s are set by the Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) across all food sectors. MRL’s are in place for all miticide treatments to ensure any honey sold is safe and of high quality. AHBIC has recently learned that FSANZ has lowered the MRL for fluvalinate (Bayvarol) from 0.005 mg/kg to 0.003 mg/kg. AHBIC was not consulted nor aware of any work to amend the MRL. We are looking into the reasoning for the changes and will report back when we have more information, until then we have updated information on our website regarding laboratory testing capabilities down to 0.003mg/kg, Maximum Residue Limits – Australian Honey Bee Industry Council

Red Dwarf Honey Bee Incursion – Burrup Peninsula WA

This response has now moved into a proof of freedom phase with no new sightings or detections of RDHB since July 2025. This is an excellent outcome for the WA response team in extremely challenging conditions. The Honey Bee industry, as the only financially contributing industry, has agreed to cost share the response at 2.5%, which will be paid for by the biosecurity response levy.

The Month Ahead

In the lead up to Easter AHBIC is busy pulling together communications for the levy reform proposal and developing the online ballot with the aim of starting the roll out of the communications this month. The levy reform project is a big piece of work for AHBIC and will consume a lot of our time over the next few months.

We will continue to represent our industry at the various fuel crisis forums, work with the jurisdictions around varroa and resistance, help those states free of varroa to plan and continue working with DAFF around imported honey.

I hope the rest of your honey season is good and hopefully the rain across the southern regions of Australia will provide some honey to finish the season.

Danny LeFeurve

CEO