As World Bee Day was celebrated on 20 May, Australian beekeepers and farmers were reminded to protect our precious pollinators by using the updated and improved BeeConnected app.

Chief Executive Officer of CropLife Australia, the national peak industry organisation for the plant science sector, Mr Matthew Cossey, said, “Australia continues to have one of the healthiest honey bee colonies in the world. BeeConnected is an award‑winning and globally recognised example of what the Australian plant science and agriculture industry is doing to keep it this way.”

The Chair of the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council, Mr Trevor Weatherhead AM, said the organisation is proud to partner in such an innovative tool that enables beekeepers and farmers to work together to promote efficiencies and collaboration.

“The importance of bees and other pollinators cannot be taken for granted. Honey bees enable up to $14.2 billion of the Australian economy annually. BeeConnected aims to give beekeepers an assurance that farmers and spray contractors are committed to a cooperative approach as they all go about their work.”

Mr Cossey continued, “BeeConnected is a crucial part of CropLife’s Pollinator Protection Initiative and another example of the plant science industry’s commitment to protecting the significant role pollinators play in Australian agriculture and the environment more broadly. The initiative provides resources for Australian farmers to ensure that pesticides are used responsibly and in a manner that minimises risk to pollinators, something our members are deeply committed to.”

CropLife Australia, in partnership with the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council, launched BeeConnected in September 2014. The second version of the app was released in early 2021 featuring significant improvements following user feedback.

Mr Weatherhead continued, “BeeConnected helps to improve communication and collaboration between farmers and beekeepers to reduce the risk of exposure of bees to any product used as part of normal farming practice that may have the potential to negatively impact their health.”

Mr Cossey concluded, “With one in every three bites of food made possible by pollinators, that’s something we can all celebrate this World Bee Day.”

BeeConnected is a nation-wide, user-driven smart-phone app that enables collaboration between beekeepers, farmers and spray contractors to facilitate best-practice pollinator protection and protect Australia’s honey bee population during normal farming practices.

BeeConnected allows farmers to easily log the location of their properties through a Google Maps-based platform with GPS capability. Beekeepers can use the same functions to log the present or future locations of their beehives. When a beehive is logged nearby a farmer’s property, both users are sent automated notifications and can chat further about their activities via a secure internal messaging service.

BeeConnected is part of CropLife Australia’s Pollinator Protection Initiative which won the Best Stewardship Programme Award at the 2015 International Agrow Awards.