VARROA mite is on the march across NSW – with Sunraysia, and all Victoria, are in the firing line.
Only the Murray River separates Victoria’s bee industry from disaster as government and industry scramble to establish a last line of defence.
Mildura-based apiarists are increasingly concerned at the risk of their hives being stranded in NSW and are doing everything they can to close ranks.
Mildura beekeeper Trevor Monson said pollination for the coming season was safe, however “going forward is the real challenge”.
Mr Monson said the biggest fear for beekeepers was the borders being slammed shut with their hives on the wrong side.
He said that while the almond industry has had an excellent pollination season, many Victorian hives would now be heading for canola crops in the Riverina.
“One operator has told me if he can’t move his bees into NSW and back, he is facing a loss of around $1 million,” Mr Monson said.
“I have 800 hives and we do a lot of watermelons in NSW and avocados in Victoria, and right now I have about half my hives each side of the Murray.
“I am one of five keepers around here with bees north of the river but all our processing in Victoria. Apart from pollination, we get all our orange blossom and red gum honey in NSW, but if the hives can’t come home for processing that’s gone.
“The people making the decisions about how we manage this need to fully understand the economic implications, they need to take into account the cost to farmers and beekeepers.
“You have to remember the river communities might be in two states but they are a single entity, like in COVID they can’t be run successfully under two sets of rules.”
Varroa mite was first detected in hives in NSW on June 22 last year by NSW bee biosecurity officers at the Port of Newcastle.
Efforts to contain the incursion had clearly failed and that initial outbreak had now spread 1100km west to Euston and Balranald.
The Australian Honey Bee Industry Council said any path forward must align with the agreed national response plan.
It spent this week in discussions with the NSW Department of Primary Industry and Agriculture Victoria, as well as working with affected beekeepers and brokers associated with the four emergency zones in almond sites to manage risks associated with rapidly declining floral resources, including hive robbing and swarming.
Several scenarios to mitigate an eminent biosecurity disaster in these regions have been worked through carefully.
More than 40,000 beehives have been stranded in the 25km surveillance zones surrounding Euston and Balranald, where a small number of hives were found to have the deadly parasite (the same applies at Euroley and Nericon in the Riverina).
With almond pollination all but over, beekeepers need to move their livestock onto other crops needing pollination, including canola.
After consultation with industry and other state governments, the NSW DPI changed its emergency order to allow the hive movement subject to a number of conditions.
“It is safe for those bees to be moved out. They will be subject to special surveillance requirements moving forward,” DPI deputy chief protection officer Chris Anderson said.
“That risk assessment is based on their potential exposure to mites and their distance from (infected premises).”
AHBIC chief executive Danny Le Feuvre said some of the hives were being moved on Wednesday and Thursday.
“Flowering has completed in a number of those areas and the bees are sitting there and they are hungry and they do need to move,” Mr Le Feuvre said.
“When these bees run out of the resources, which is what’s happening now, they will start attacking each other and fighting and eventually stealing from each other, when they kill the hive.”
The NSW DPI emergency eradication and surveillance zones around Balranald were the second to extend into Victoria, after the detection of varroa at a hive in Euston last week.Balranald was the fourth infestation uncovered in a week and brought the total of infested properties to 231.
A new permit was announced by Agriculture Victoria, which enables movement of hives and equipment in and out of the Victorian area of the surveillance emergency zones.
The 10km eradication emergency zone remains off-limits for movement.
Beekeepers in surveillance zones at Euston, Euroley, Nericon and Balranald may move their hives to a location in the general emergency zone.
The hives must be moved directly to the destination site and not moved until approved by DPI. Beekeepers must also lodge movement declarations for each load before movement.
Chief Plant Health Officer Dr Rosa Crnov said Victoria’s decision came due to urgent concerns about bee health and declining floral resources.
“As part of the permit they will be required to inform Agriculture Victoria of their hives’ current locations and destinations,” she said.
“It will also be a requirement that they continue to report their movements to us.
“Under the permit there will also be a requirement to undertake alcohol wash tests of the hives at the rates prescribed, within seven days of moving.”
The varroa mite is an external parasite that attacks and feeds on honeybees and can devastate their colonies.
The source of the current outbreak been tracked back to a cluster of infested premises near Kempsey on the NSW mid-north coast.
Dr Crnov confirmed no varroa mite had been found in Victoria.
Forms needed for bee movement
URGENT meetings on Wednesday and Thursday to establish the size of a red zone across the Sunraysia and Riverina failed to reach agreement, and were continuing on Friday.
Until that announcement is made, a control area order remains in place for Victoria.This means all movement of bees and bee products, with the exception of processed honey and wax, is being regulated through a permit system in order to prevent the entry and establishment of varroa mite.
The form, effective from September 1, is on the Agriculture Victoria website.
In Victoria anyone seeing any signs of mites must contact biosecurity at forms.bio.vic.gov.au/public-reporting or call the Exotic Plant Pest Hotline on 1800 084 881.
The NSW emergency order has been updated to allow movements from the Euston, Euroley, Nericon and Balranald purple zones, under strict conditions.
Forms and further information is on the NSW DPI website.
