Three young Australians will head to Northern Ireland next month to represent the country at the 2026 International Meeting of Young Beekeepers, with 15-year-old Tasmanian Patrick Napper among the team.
Napper, a recreational beekeeper from South Arm, said he was drawn to the craft by the science behind it.
“I find it so interesting just all the little things that you have to do to be a proper beekeeper, the science behind the genetics of the bees, and just how bees act and behave,” he told Pulse.
Napper was introduced to beekeeping through the Tasmanian Junior Beekeepers club in Richmond, where young people aged seven to 17 can learn the skills and theory of beekeeping.
He has been involved for around two and a half years, driving up each month to attend.
He said he was extremely excited when he learned he had been selected in the Australian team.
“I was really overjoyed when I was given the opportunity,” he said.
Napper will be joined by Josiah Dick from Queensland and Elan Myers from Victoria.
The trio was chosen through a national application process and assessed by an independent panel with experience across commercial beekeeping, education, youth development and industry.
The team will be supported by team leader James Horan, a commercial beekeeper and educator, and team coordinator Anita Long, who founded Australian Youth Beekeeping and Tasmanian Junior Beekeepers.
Long said the team had been selected at a significant time for the Australian beekeeping industry.
“Varroa mite has changed the landscape for Australian beekeepers,” she said.
“Our young people are entering beekeeping at a time when the industry is facing some of its biggest challenges, including hive losses, treatment resistance and enormous pressure to adapt.”
The international event brings together young people, facilitators and mentors from around 35 countries.
Dick, a commercial beekeeper in south-east Queensland, has experienced major hive losses firsthand, including the rapid loss of 80 of his personal hives during what has been described as a resistant mite pressure wave.
His first time on a plane will be to represent Australia overseas.
Myers was born in South Africa and recently became an Australian citizen before being selected.
The team will leave in late June, travelling first to Scotland to prepare before the event begins on July 4.
This will be Australia’s third campaign to the international meeting.
