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The honey bee industry on Kangaroo Island has unique protection arising from its geographical isolation and also because of the Ligurian Bee Act designed to reduce the likelihood of exposure to diseases found on the mainland. As such, the bees on Kangaroo Island are free of notifiable diseases.

The Ligurian Bee Act was enacted in 1885 and further updated in 1931 and 1997. It supports biosecurity protocols preventing importation of bees, bee-keeping equipment and bee-related products such as honey and wax. This represents a rare example of legislative protection for an insect in Australia.

The current biosecurity awareness campaign is assisting travellers and residents to continue to protect the honey bee industry by observing good biosecurity practices such as not bringing any honey products to the island. There has been an increase in awareness of potential risks, with recent examples of individuals acting to prevent used bee equipment and commercial quantities of honey from the mainland being brought to the island.

Biosecurity Liaison Officer, Natural Resources Kangaroo Island says,‘The honey bee industry is very important to Kangaroo Island, not only because of the pollination services and honey production bees provide, but also due to the bees’ disease-free status. Let’s all do our bit to help protect local honey bees by ensuring that no honey or bee equipment is brought to the island’.

For further information or to report any biosecurity concerns, please contact us.