how many bee hive keepers have lost their hives australia

Australia has seen hundreds of beekeepers impacted by hive losses in major outbreaks, but there is no single nationwide count for “how many keepers have lost their hives” because reports are usually tracked by incident, region, or outbreak rather than one master tally. In one varroa-related outbreak, about 440 beekeepers were impacted and about 600 hives were destroyed.

What the public reporting shows

• In the Griffith-area pesticide incident, five apiarists lost bees from 340 hives.

• In the Upper Murray bushfire recovery story, at least 10,000 hives were reported lost, but the exact number was hard to pin down.

• In the current varroa crisis, reporting says the parasite has decimated at least 60 percent of beehives and could force many operations out of business.

• Another report says about 440 beekeepers were affected during the 2022 containment response.

Clean answer

If you mean the current Australia-wide varroa impact , the best public figure I found is around 440 beekeepers impacted in one documented response , with wider losses still unfolding. If you mean a specific event or state, the number changes a lot, and some incidents only report hive totals rather than how many keepers were affected.

Why the number is hard to fix

Beekeeping losses in Australia are reported in different ways: some articles count hives destroyed , some count beekeepers affected , and some give only estimates. That makes it tricky to turn the story into one exact national total without a specific outbreak, year, or state.

TL;DR

The most concrete public number I found is about 440 beekeepers impacted in a varroa response, but Australia does not appear to have one single official count for all beekeepers who have lost hives nationwide.