Many could soon quit the industry unless the large supermarket chains start paying more for honey.

Beekeepers are receiving as little as $2 per kilogram for a product supermarkets are selling for between $8 and $10

per kg.

“We don’t want to make millions we just want to be able to pay the bills at the end of the month,” Tamworth Apiarist Association president Ray Hull told The Leader.

Mr Hull said beekeeping was as much a lifestyle as a job for him, but unless supermarkets started paying fair prices he said people could be squeezed out of the industry.

“At the moment I would be better off doing nothing,” he said.

There are more costs in harvesting bees than might first meet the eye. Certified equipment can cost in excess of $500,000 while there is the expense of tending to the hives in the paddocks.

When beekeepers were receiving $3 per kg diesel cost $1.20 per litre. Diesel now costs about $1.60 and beekeepers are receiving just $2 per kg.

The drought has made matters worse with beekeepers having to drive long distances in search of blossom.

“I travelled 1300 km last winter just to keep the bees alive,” Mr Hull said.

It is hoped the crisis meeting at Nelson Bay will send the message loud and clear to supermarkets.

Honey packers and marketers have blamed a reverse tendering process introduced by the major supermarkets –whereby the lowest price offered to supermarkets wins – for the collapse in prices.

There will be some discussion at today’s meeting about establishing a co-operative, whereby growers will collectively bargain with market players for better prices.

The possibility of a marketing levy on honey is also to be discussed. Mr Hull said there needed to be stronger marketing but at what cost he did not know.

“There are a lot more uses for honey than to just put it on toast, it’s just making people aware of them,” he said.

The health of the honey industry is directly linked to the wellbeing of agriculture. The bees perform a pollination service that would otherwise cost $1.8 billion to replicate.