A survey dataset to better understand the honey bee industry, use and value of natural resources and challenges for beekeepers in Western Australia: A beekeepers' perspective

This dataset presents responses to the Natural Resources for Beekeepers Questionnaire (Western Australia) 2020-21 in a series of tables in non-identifiable aggregated format. The online quantitative survey was the first comprehensive, spatially referenced survey of beekeepers in Western Australia since 1990. It is also the first to survey all beekeepers, including backyard beekeepers as well as amateur-hobbyist and commercial beekeepers. The survey focussed on beekeeping practices, use of natural resources and economic attributes associated with honey bee products, native flora and environmental challenges relating to apiary sites. The dataset gives measures related to the production system and profitability of the Western Australian beekeeping industry, focussing on the 2019-2020 season and historical production. The raw survey data is not available due to human research ethics approval requirements, agreement with the Beekeeping Industry Council of Western Australia and conditions in the participants’ consent, therefore summary statistics are given. Access to the survey questions, answer options, directional flow and display logic have been made available to assist with referencing results and reproducibility of a complex online questionnaire in the future and/or for other jurisdictions.