Honey bees an opportunity for Tamworth, 200 years after their introduction

Two centuries later, organisers of a symposium by veteran bee expert Bruce White hope a career in beekeeping could be in store for Tamworth's next generation

Mr White, who keeps bees for the Governor General and the NSW Governor, and spent four decades working in government, travelled to Tamworth to share his wisdom.

Organiser Melissa Wortman said she hoped 'bee futures environmental and food security showcase day' would inspire some of the 39 attendees into a new future.

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"The good thing about beekeeping as part of agriculture is, you don't need a massive outlay, you don't need a big financial outlay, you just need to get a bee box, a suit, a smoker and learn the trade," she said.

Making honey is just one small aspect of beekeeping and people can make good money just by letting bees do their thing, she said.

One apiarist made $300,000 on a single job pollinating blueberries.

Few know more about pollination than University of New England associate professor Romina Rader.

But she said there were still research gaps.

We have no idea what proportion of Australian crops are pollinated by wild bees as opposed to managed bees.

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"You would think we would know that by now and we don't, in Australia," she said.

"That's actually my job. I can say that some of the crops that we have looked at are almond, for example, is heavily dependent on managed honey bees. There are some wild bees that come in but because of the way almond's grown, in a big monoculture, it's quite hard to get the natives in."

Dr Rader said a career in bees was a true opportunity.

"People who are interested in livestock or animals or honey or just love bees, I think it's good for them to have a career in beekeeping," she said.

"But it doesn't just have to be a career in beekeeping, if you like bees you can do what I've done and go into a research line. I study bees and how efficient they are at pollinating crops that they visit, or you can be someone who studies diseases or viruses to protect bees. There's all sorts of avenues."

The honey bee was imported to Australia on the ship Isabella in 1822.

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