The Governor-General along with bee expert, Dr Doug Somerville, inspect some young bees and hives in the grounds of Government House as part of the media launch for the 40th Apimondia Congress.

4 September 2007

The Apimondia Congress was first held in 1897 – this is only the second time it has been to Australia. More than 1400 people from Australia and across the world will be in attendance. The Congress is being hosted in Melbourne and will bring together scientists who work in the area of bee health and productivity, honey production and crop pollination.

Crop pollination by honey bees in Australia is said to be worth $1.8 billion to the economy. Australia has over 2000 commercial beekeepers, the largest with over 2000 hives. There are around 606 thousand registered hives in Australia producing at least 30 thousand tonnes of honey each year. We export a third of our honey, mainly to Germany and the United Kingdom.

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