AUSTRALIA is the only inhabited continent in the world to remain free of the destructive varroa mite, but local beekeepers have been watching a recent developing situation in NSW which could have ramifications for more than just the local honey industry.

 With the detection of the parasitic mite at the Port of Newcastle last month, NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) officials have been scrambling to stay one step ahead of the outbreak in order to contain and eradicate the threat and avoid what could cost Australia hundreds of millions of dollars.

Eradication and alert zones have been set up around each confirmed infected hive as well as state-wide directives not to move hives, and the spread appears to have been slowed, but new detections were being reported almost daily and it was still unclear whether authorities would win the battle.

It’s not the first time the pest has got to Australian shores, with a close call in 2018 at the Port of Melbourne with bees on a ship from Texas, and also detections in Townsville in 2016, 2019 and 2020, however all were contained.

But this time, the mite has already spread into at least 38 sites in NSW, with the majority being within about 100 kilometres of Newcastle, but one site in Narrabri is about 400km to the north-west.

Victoria moved quickly along with Queensland to close the border to NSW and ban the entry of bees, hives and products, including honey.

In addition, beekeepers must also obtain a permit for the movement of any bees, hives, used beekeeping equipment and bee products into Victoria if they were in NSW at any time after January 1, 2022.

This also applies if they have recently relocated to another state or territory.

Penshurst beekeeper, Fraser McKenzie, said although his operation was “pretty small” he was concerned about the threat and hoped it could be contained.

“I run a couple of hundred hives (and) there’s a lot of others who are well under 50,” he said.

“But the big boys – there’s a lot in that 500 to 3000 (range).”

With the annual almond pollination in Victoria’s Sunraysia region only a few weeks away – usually needing hives from as far away as Queensland to be transported into the area – the Victorian Government has also moved quickly to require all beekeepers to apply and receive a permit first.

“My wife was only (just) saying, ‘what happens if you don’t go up there, how are the almonds going to get pollinated?’” Mr McKenzie said.

“It’s going to be a nightmare. They might end up with 20 per cent production rather than (about) 90 per cent.”

He said the recent heavy rains in NSW would’ve hampered the efforts of biosecurity authorities and called it “a bit of a nuisance” but given the bees would as a consequence also have been unlikely to fly out much, it was probably timely and “couldn’t have happened at a better time” to enhance efforts to eliminate the mite.

NSW authorities have set up three different levels of alert around each detection site, with every hive within 10km to be destroyed, those up to 25km officials were monitoring and inspecting, and up to 50km the minimum requirement for beekeepers was to notify NSW DPI of their locations.

The rest of the state was required to not move any hives.

Beekeepers covering a huge area of Australia would be hopeful the experience of New Zealand is not repeated here.

Varroa mite was first detected in April 2000 in the North Island, even though evidence appeared to show it had been present in New Zealand for up to five years by then, a factor which influenced the decision they made to seek to control the pest rather than eradication, as the latter was considered not technically feasible.

The failure to control the pest – now also on the South Island – has been estimated will cost the country between NZ$365 - 661 million over 35 years.

With honey bee pollination services in Australia estimated to be worth between $AUS0.6 - 1.7 billion, the incentive to beat the mite incursion in NSW is clear.

It isn’t just almonds – canola, cucumber, apples, pears, apricots, watermelon, coriander and many berries are just a few of the crops that rely heavily on healthy bee populations.

Australia has been extremely vigilant with sentinel hives at ports across the country, and Agriculture Victoria bee biosecurity officer, Ally Driessen, said the Victorian biosecurity points had already proven their worth along with more than 600 beekeepers who live within a five-kilometre radius of them.

“Our sentinel hives are monitored every six weeks as part of a national program aimed at providing an early alert system to pests such as varroa mite entering Australia,” she said.

“There is a whole community of beekeepers who live close to ports and are very aware of the health of their hives, they know when something isn’t right, and we have engaged them to be our eyes and ears as well.

“When there was an incursion of varroa mite in Victoria in 2018 they were some of the first people we visited to help us confirm what we were dealing with and they helped spread key information to beekeepers across the state.”

Agriculture Victoria deputy chief plant health officer, Stephen Dibley, said the value of the 20 Victorian sentinel hives could not be overestimated.

“Sentinel hives at ports act as an early warning system,” he said.

“Early detection greatly increases the possibility of eradicating an incursion and limits the scale and cost.

“The Port of Portland is one of the major ports in Victoria where we monitor sentinel hives. Agriculture Victoria also monitors Melbourne, Geelong and Hastings ports.”

There are 14,500 registered beekeepers across the whole of Victoria, including 62 in Portland and 30 in Hamilton.

Mr McKenzie said there was some development taking place in the Netherlands, with honey bees that were resistant to the mite, but even if that was successful, “it’s still going to take several years for that to be up and working”.

He said he knows bees are valuable for not just making delicious honey but to keep other fresh food industries going – he believed it may take several weeks to see if NSW authorities have been successful to keep Australia free of the mite.

He conceded the measures taken will unavoidably affect the industry, but said the alternative of letting the pest take hold was far worse and too grim an outcome not to attempt eradication.

“Even if they get on to it, it’ll be a big disruption,” Mr McKenzie said.

“We’ve just got to keep it out, it’s as easy as that - we’re the only nation in the world that hasn’t got it.”