Pollination price sting: Cost of Varroa bites

One year on from its detection in Victoria, the Varroa mite is no longer a biosecurity emergency but now a permanent cost for growers.

Australian almond crops are set for a record season, with global demand rising. Picture: Supplied.

Australian beekeepers are under pressure as the Varroa mite continues to increase costs and labour demands, just as almond growers prepare for a record 2024-25 season.

Handling of the pest, first detected in Victoria last year, has shifted from a biosecurity crisis to a structural cost for agriculture.

For beekeepers, costs have already risen by an estimated 25–30 per cent, with monthly mite monitoring, chemical treatments, and heavier labour requirements now standard practice.

Australian Honey Bee Industry Council chief executive Danny Le Feuvre estimates about $50 in extra costs per colony – a squeeze when honey is still fetching just $4 to $4.50 a kilogram at the farmgate.

Hive health is crucial, with fewer frames being filled with bees as a result of the Varroa mite. Picture: TWAM/Nick Cubbin

“The feral bees have dropped off, so there will need to be more reliance on managed colonies,” Mr Le Feuvre said.

“Beekeepers are already feeling the pinch … and this will turn off more beekeepers.”

That pressure is colliding with surging demand from almond growers as the industry is booming.

The Australian Almond Board reported a record 2024-25 crop of more than 163,000 tonnes, up sharply on last year’s weather-affected yield.

Plantings are still expanding, with 66,096ha now in the ground, and new trade agreements with China and India accelerating global interest.

“The demand for bees is super strong this year as it’s been a poor season for hive health,” Almonds Australia chief executive Tim Jackson said.

“In the weeks leading up to pollination the prices jumped up … there is now more vigilance around the quality of the hives, so beekeepers are more accountable to deliver.”

Almonds may cope, having long relied on managed hives, but crops such as berries, apples and stone fruit – traditionally serviced by feral colonies – face the sharpest disruption.

The Australian Almond Board reported a record 2024/25 crop of more than 163,000 tonnes, up sharply on last year’s weather-affected yield. Picture: Supplied.

Crop Pollination Association of Australia president Matt Petersen said the sector was entering a new phase of “competition for hives” that would only intensify.

“Over the next few years, as more beekeepers leave the industry and feral colonies die out, smaller crops will all be impacted dramatically, increasing pressure and demand for paid pollination,” he said.

Some growers are already being urged to plant early-season cover crops, such as canola or radish, to keep bees healthier and encourage pollination before major blossoms arrive.

What is clear is that pollination is now firmly a professionalised service – and one that growers will need to pay more for.

As Mr Petersen warned, “farms will need to be ‘gold standard’ … in order to attract the required hive numbers”.