Bargo beekeeper Keith McIlvride was honoured for his work for the honeybee industry in the Queen's Birthday Awards announced on Monday.
Mr McIlvride will receive the Medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia for his service to the beekeeping industry, particularly in the areas of research, administration and management.
Mr McIlvride has been the chairman of the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation's Honeybee Research and Development Committee since 1999. He was the chairman of the Federal Council of the Australian Apiarist's Association from 1989–1991 and president of the NSW Apiarists' Association (formerly the Commercial Apiarists' Association of NSW) from 1994–96.
As secretary of the NSW Apiarists' Association from 1982–1986, Mr McIlvride was instrumental in resolving a financial crisis which threatened the Association's viability, in part by reintroducing "Honeyland" at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.
Sales of honey through "Honeyland" have risen from $19,000 in 1984, the first year of its re-introduction, to $70,000.
A Life Member of the NSW Apiarists' Association, Mr McIlvride maintains his association with the Royal Easter Show as a honey judge.
Mr McIlvride became a commercial beekeeper in 1973 and went on to become a Queen Bee breeder and researcher.
"I was just fascinated with the insect and have been fascinated ever since.
"I stopped the physical side of beekeeping five or six years ago, but I haven't lost my interest in the industry and staying ahead of the politics of it, including the research side."
Mr McIlvride has taken a particular interest in genetics and breeding of bees. He is one of only a handful of Australians to have mastered the science of artificially inseminating Queen Bees.
"Bees normally mate in the air, therefore with natural mating you can't control the genetics," he said. "Using AI you are able to select the drone stock and the daughter Queen."
His research has taken him as far afield as Russia, where he travelled in 1990 to bring back genetic material.
As chairman of the Honeybee Research Committee, Mr McIlvride works on behalf of around 2000 Australian commercial beekeepers, who generate gross product worth around $60 million a year.
In addition, commercial beekeepers contribute directly to the production of $2 billion in horticultural crops which rely on bees to pollinate.
"Most people think of beekeeping as an amateur activity, but bees from Australia have been exported to Canada, Japan and Italy, generating probably $4.5 to $5 million a year," Mr McIlvride said.
Australian beekeepers produce around 26,000 tonnes of honey a year, of which around 40 per cent is exported.
However, Mr McIlvride said that as a result of the drought, Australia had been forced to import honey from China and Argentina.
"This has created some problems: The price has gone through the roof and sales have been lost because of consumers' resistance to high prices. Also importing honey has changed the honey flavour and sales have slipped because of that."
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