A Pain in the Back – Kiwi Beekeepers’ Relationship with Injury

Anybody who has spent any length of time as a commercial beekeeper in New Zealand will know of back injury, either from first-hand experience or hearing the stories. Now, in a New Zealand first, Victoria University of Wellington PhD student Jane Pierce has researched the impact of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) on Kiwi apiarists.

Critical findings from the study, which surveyed a “disappointingly low” 73 commercial beekeepers, were that MSDs were “widespread” among apiarists and diagnosis and treatment was lacking, contributing to longer-term pain and impairment.

A new study has identified the pain points for Kiwi beekeepers, with 74% of those surveyed saying they had experienced lower back discomfort at some point in the last 12 months.

“Agricultural workers seem to tolerate musculoskeletal disorders and expect them,” Pierce says.

“That might be part of the independent farmer type personality, or it might be due to barriers to access to treatment, such as time and cost.”

While research into MSDs among agriculture workers is abundant, Pierce is seeking to better understand the nature of Kiwi beekeepers’ relationship to their work and any lasting damage to their person. Her interest was first piqued around 10 years ago when the qualified physiotherapist was working in occupational health and encountered a beekeeper client.

“I was super interested as there was so little information about musculoskeletal disorders among apiarists or beekeepers, at that stage anyway. Now there are about 12 articles, but mostly from Turkey and Iran. Hence this was a 'white space' for study,” she says.

Pierce, in the final of her PhD, believes her article, Do Beekeepers Have a Sweet Life? Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders and Their Impact Among Apiarists in New Zealand, published in the Journal of Agromedicine in November last year, was the first published article about apiarists and MSDs from the global south.

“Agriculture often gets lumped in one basket and even worse with forestry and/or fishing, but there are huge differences between these sectors,” Pierce says.

Participants to the study had managed more than 250 beehives for at least three years and were at least 18 years-old. The 64 male and nine female contributors were provided a questionnaire to complete.

Eighty-nine percent of the beekeepers reported suffering a MSD in the past 12 months, which is in line with agricultural workers in general. The most common area for disorders was in the lower back, where 74% said they had experienced discomfort, followed by the shoulders, 56%, and ‘neck and head’, 55%.

The reasons for the discomfort were given as ‘physical factors’ by 69% of responders, who suggested awkward and prolonged postures, heavy lifting, repetition and use of force contributed to their discomfort.

It is one thing to know why an injury might be occurring, but coming up with practical solutions can be challenging.

“The management is ‘eliminate’, ‘isolate’ or ‘minimise’. When it comes to beekeeping, some things can be minimised, such as by using hive lifts or hive stands, but not eliminated. I did talk to one apiarist who had reduced his hive numbers and concentrated on quality and still got as much honey as when he had more hives,” Pierce says.

Despite the prevalence of working in pain, the vast majority of beekeepers reported their general health as either ‘good’ or ‘excellent’.

Only nine of 42 participants that reported “chronic” MSD (lasting more than 3 months) had attended a registered treatment provider. Furthermore, only a third of those who had reported suffering MSDs in the last seven days were receiving treatment.

“While apiarists may be aware that they have musculoskeletal discomfort, there is a whole world out there who have no idea,” Pierce says.

“I did a conference presentation in October in Christchurch and only two people had any idea what beekeeping involved. So this information is useful for treatment providers, for comparisons with other studies from other countries, for researchers, for innovators and for apiarists who will know that they are not alone in their discomfort.”