672,216 honey bee hives and 25,495 beekeepers are registered in Australia according to Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC) past Executive Director Trevor Weatherhead.
| TOTAL NUMBER OF BEEKEEPERS NATIONALLY | 25,495 |
| TOTAL NUMBER OF BEE HIVES IN AUSTRALIA | 672,216 |
With the assistance of state and territory government staff, Weatherhead compiled an update of beekeeper and hive statistics for Australia, current as of 31 October 2018, in the November 2018 newsletter of the national peak beekeeping industry body, AHBIC. This newsletter can be read in full on AHBIC’s website along with archived newsletters from 2009 to the present.
- November 2018 newsletter: https://honeybee.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/November-2018-Newsletter.pdf
| State / Territory | Beekeepers | Hives |
| NSW | 7,498 | 304,187 |
| VIC | 7,637 | 116,105 |
| QLD | 5,022 | 109,240 |
| SA | 1,848 | 73,955 |
| WA | 2,692 | 45,103 |
| TAS | 262 | 20,960 |
| NT | 94 | 1,485 |
| ACT | 442 | 1,181 |
| TOTAL | 25,495 | 672,216 |
The Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia further categorise their beekeeper registration between beekeepers with less than fifty hives and beekeepers with more than 50 hives. These six states and territories also keep a tally of the number of hives owned by these beekeepers as shown below.
| STATE | Beekeepers with less than 50 hives | Hives owned by beekeepers with less than 50 hives | Beekeepers with 50 or more hives | Hives owned by beekeepers with 50 or more hives |
| Queensland | 4,702 | 24,434 | 320 | 84,806 |
| Victoria | 7,404 | 32,763 | 233 | 83,342 |
| Tasmania | 216 | 1,572 | 46 | 19,388 |
| South Australia | 1,660 | 9,457 | 188 | 64,498 |
| Western Australia | 2,525 | 13,729 | 167 | 31,374 |
| Northern Territory | 90 | 345 | 4 | 1,140 |
| Australian Capital Territory | 442* | 1,181 | N/A | N/A |
| TOTAL | 16,597 | 83,481 | 958 | 284,548 |
The Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales, however, do not class beekeepers as having less or more than fifty hives.
About the author Liz Frost
Feature image credit: https://www.agrifutures.com.au/farm-diversity/beekeeping-honey-bees/
