Pure Ligurian bees protected on South Australia's Kangaroo Island as world-first sanctuary since 1885
Beekeepers all over South Australia rallied to get legal protection for the Ligurian bees on Kangaroo Island in 1885.
An Italian bee benefited from a world first in agricultural protection by South Australia. The Ligurian bees on Kangaroo Island, 120 kilometres south of Adelaide, were believed to be the last remaining pure stock of this bee, protected by the island as the oldest bee sanctuary in the world.
This status was challenged in 2020 by severe fires on the island in 2019-20 summer that cut its honey production by up to 75%.
The bees were imported from Bologna by the South Australian Chamber of Manufacturers in 1884. The island was declared a bee sanctuary the next year.
An early German settler August Fiebig was credited for his role in breeding and bringing the bees to the island but beekeepers all over South Australia were able to quickly get legal protection for the bees. This reflected influence in a small (population wise) colony/state, but also the demand for agricultural adaptability (another South Australian characteristic) in its harsh climatic challenges.
Also in a small-colony scenario, James Boucaut, a South Australia supreme court judge and former premier, brought the first Ligurians to the island on his yacht in 1884. The state government established a Ligurian queen breeding station at Flinders Chase on the island in 1944.
The Ligurian bee produces a superb range of honeys from flora including sugar gum, pink gum, white mallee and other Australian and introduced flora. Ligurian has built sizeable export markets, particularly in Japan. It was the first Australian product recognised by the Slow Food Movement's Ark of Taste awards for products that are in danger and need protecting.
Plans to map the activity of bees and protect South Australian pollination rates from climate change and varroa mites were boosted in 2015. The state government and Adelaide University studied the potential of Australia’s native bees to resist the varroa mites that have hit bee populations globally.
Feral honey bees provided 60% of agricultural pollination, with the rest from commercial honeybees and native bees. Lucerne, almonds, apples and cherries relied entirely upon bee pollinators.
