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Dry weather leaves honey bees hungry

ABC Rural Lucy Barbour
Beekeepers hope for rain to keep hungry bees alive

Beekeepers, James and Laurie Kershaw inspect hives at Jugiong, in south-east New South Wales.

Lucy Barbour

Beekeepers are worried there could be a shortage of locally produced honey this year.

Dry conditions across the country have meant there's less pollen and nectar for bees to feed on.

James Kershaw from Gundaroo, in south-east New South Wales says there's still honey about but beekeepers are having to travel further to find it.

"Canola's not the over best honey for the shelves, it's mainly industrial honey and that's the only one beekeepers have been getting so far," he said.

"We might have to start feeding bees supplementary food but if it's to keep our bees alive, we'll have to do it."

"And yeah, they're just practically only living day by day."

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