Ok, it’s a good question. When was the last time you saw heaps of bees in your backyard or park or garden ?

Bees are under threat by urbanisation, over-use of insecticide and a bad wrap from anybody who’s ever got stung. Australia is lucky enough to be the only country in the world with a healthy bee population – so healthy in fact we are keeping the rest of the world’s food sources secure by exporting bees.

If we get CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder) or the Varroa mite, which the experts say is a matter of when not if, then we are in trouble. In other parts of the world the bee populations have been decimated by these problems; beekeepers can lose 80 or 90% of their hives over winter and have no choice but to buy bees to re-stock.

What happens if our bees get sick as well?