THE importance of pollination by honeybees to our horticulture and agricultural industries should not be underestimated.

In Australia, 35 industries are dependent on honeybee pollination for most of their production and nearly two-thirds of Australia’s agricultural production benefits from bee pollination.

Some industries, such as almonds, apples, pears and cherries, depend almost totally on bees for fruit and nut production in the local area.

Locally, nut farmers in the Ovens Valley and surrounds are highly dependent on honeybees for production and harvest.

Milawa-based Walkabout Apiaries business manager Greg Whitehead says bees have been kept very busy over that last six weeks with pollination activities well on the way.

“Almond pollination has now been completed with a very busy season compared to other years,” he said.

“We sent bees to Robinvale with other bee keeps assisting from as far north as Darwin to pollinate the almond trees.

“The orchard in Robinvale is over 2000 acres in size, so the demand from the farmer was very high as the pollination of all the trees was very important.

“I would estimate around 1200 of our hives were sent to the orchard.”

Good almond yield starts with effective pollination.

Most almond varieties require cross-fertilisation and so almond orchards in Australia are planted with alternating rows of pollinator varieties with Nonpareil, the main eating variety.

The almond industry relies on a commercial supply of European honeybees (Apis mellifera) being the most efficient and effective pollinator of almond flowers.

The industry undertakes several initiatives to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of almond pollination and supporting honeybee health.

With the almonds and other nut pollination completed, apiarists are now focusing closer to home on pollination requirements for local fruit growers as apples, pears and stone fruit trees have now blossomed.

“Firstly, we have 250 hives heading to Shepparton along with hives from other parts of the state with us to commence pollination activities” Greg said.

“Hives will also be sent to the Buffalo area in the next couple of weeks as they are running behind due to the cooler temperatures.

“Our upcoming commitments will be in the Bright and Porepunkah areas with bees looking to pollinate apples, blueberries, nnion crops and pumpkin crops.

“Our aim is to have all the pollination completed by the end of October where the bees will be sent back to the high country for the summer period.

“The pollination season has been rather dry, however, the bees have been kept very busy with local crops and orchid still producing plenty of flowers.”

While the pollination process has progressed well, eyes are always kept peeled with the ongoing concerns of the notorious varroa mite.

It is an external parasitic mite that attacks and feeds on honey bees and is one of the most damaging honeybee pests in the world.

Varroa destructor is a distinctive-looking small mite, around 1mm in diameter and is reddish-brown colour and can be seen with the naked eye.

The mite attaches itself to the bee and feeds on them which weakens the bee and kills colonies.

“We have been monitoring our bees closely as a precaution to ensure our hives are free of varroa mite,” Greg said.

“We have only seen one case in Victoria but it was isolated.

“Pollination periods are always a high risk with multiple hives from various location coming together and bees mix in, which can create the risk of the spread of varroa.

“However, varroa has not impacted hives locally or in Victoria for that matter, which is positive to know that apiarists are all working together to ensure the pest is kept at bay.”