BEGA Cheese pays for private taxi service for queen bees, as delays hit Australia Post deliveries

Australia’s sought after queen bees have been given the royal treatment to survive — with an exclusive service worth $826 in one trip.

Exclusive: It could be the most expensive taxi ride ever to save Australia’s bees.

Without their queen, beehives cannot survive — but delayed postal services during the Covid-19 pandemic and excessive heat have led to many of the monarchs dying en route to their future hives.

The dire situation prompted Bega Cheese, maker of Australian B Honey, to take swift action.

The company paid $826 for a private taxi to undertake a four-and-a-half-hour trip, to ensure queen bees were delivered faster.

Bega Foods general manager Matt Gray told News Corp has company had commissioned several rides since, through its regal driving service, dubbed the Queen Bee Chariot.

Run by Silver Top Taxis in Victoria, the Chariot kicked off in February and has supported queen bee breeder David Briggs during the season.

The service safely transported more than 10 queen bees to their new hives, from Glenrowan to Traralgon.

David Briggs showcases a queen bee. Picture: supplied

“We believe that it all starts with the bees, they’re so critical,” Mr Gray said.

“When B Honey found out about the issue queen bee breeders were facing, we knew how important it was to help provide support and raise awareness of the issue.”

It’s difficult to say whether queen bee breeders would face the same challenges next season, but if they did, Mr Gray said B Honey would be open to finding a way to support the industry.

“We’d also call out to others in the industry and work out how we can solve these issues together, when and if they arise in the future,” he said.

Australian Queen Bee Breeders Association secretary Corinne Jordan said the breeding season had been “very challenging, especially since Covid-19, because Australia Post can’t guarantee its express postal service”.

“There’s only a certain period of time for putting the queen bee in the case with food and worker bees to attend to her,” she said.

Beekeeper Craig Scott hails Chico Hazik’s Queen Bee Chariot in Echuca. Picture: supplied

“And the worker bees don’t live particularly long lives.

“Transportation needs to be under about four days.

“Their survival also depends on temperature, how much food is left, and how many attendants survive. Once the attendants die or food runs out, it’s all over.

“If they do arrive alive, but they’ve been through a really stressful event, their long-term survival will be questionable.”

Ms Jordan said commercial beekeepers risk losing a lot of money, and hobby beekeepers can lose their entire hives.

“Driving is not a viable solution because it would be too costly,” she said.

“I don’t know how that could be financially viable with the price of fuel and the location of most beekeepers.

“Postage is an affordable service at $15 (in a specially-designed package with food), and we have had a lot of success over the years.

“Our best solution so far has been to put GPS trackers inside the package, so they can be intercepted if they’re (the queens) not going to get to their destination alive.”