Queensland beekeepers have been allowed to bring their hives home after being stuck at the New South Wales border, caught up in the latest varroa mite outbreak interstate.
Key points:
- Fourteen Queensland beekeepers had 12,000 hives in the Sunraysia and Riverina regions
- The Queensland government implemented a new movement control order for hives returning from Victoria
- The returning bees had been isolated and would be strictly monitored for the next 12 months
Four professional beekeepers with trucks full of hives were stranded in northern NSW on Thursday, denied permission to re-enter Queensland after leaving varroa mite purple zones in Victoria’s almond fields.
They are among 14 Queensland pollination contractors, who had 12,000 hives located in the Sunraysia and Riverina regions.
Queensland Beekeepers’ Association state secretary Jo Martin said the permits to re-enter the state had been finalised.
“Trucks have come through Queensland and now those beehives are being located on extremely isolated properties to undertake their quarantine period,” she said.
Ms Martin said the bees re-entering the state would be checked and monitored to ensure they were clean and clear of varroa mite.
“Those beekeepers are going to be under some very, very strict reporting requirements for a minimum of 12 months moving forward,” she said.
“A few guys are already spinning around to do another trip.
“Everything has gone smoothly so far.”
Movement control orders in place
A Biosecurity Queensland spokesperson said the state’s new movement control order for returning hives from Victoria’s 2023 almond pollination event was prepared in consultation with industry.
“Biosecurity Queensland case managers will be assigned to every returning beekeeper to ensure all permit conditions are known and understood, and compliance activities will be undertaken to ensure the permit conditions are met,” the spokesperson said.
“Penalties apply to beekeepers who do not meet their obligations under the Biosecurity Act 2014.”
Beekeepers who have been in the Victorian surveillance emergency zone since July 1 must hold a permit issued by the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries to enter the state.
“This applies to bees, beehives, used beekeeping equipment, or bee products, including unprocessed honey,” the spokesperson said.
A ‘moment to breathe’
Jo Martin said there was a lot of anxiety, but the returning bees were isolated and away from other beekeepers.
“I think the rest of the industry can just have a moment to breathe,” she said.
“I’ve certainly received a lot of phone calls from very, very worried beekeepers at the moment.”
Ms Martin stressed the bees that are coming back from Victoria pose a very low risk.
“We are using a higher rate of protocol to make sure that we can clear these fees to give everyone the confidence moving forward that they are nice and clean,” she said.
She urged Australians to buy local honey to support beekeepers who were going through a very difficult time.
“The best thing that you can do that would really make me happy is go out and empty the shelves of Australian honey,” Ms Martin said.
A difficult period ahead
Scenic Rim beekeeper Murray Arkadief was among the 14 professional pollinators who had been contracted to Victorian almond orchards.
He said the Queensland bees were a long way from the outbreak and reiterated that the risk of spreading the disease was minimal but must be managed carefully.
“It’s like COVID: one minute you couldn’t shake a person’s hand, next minute, you can go to a rock concert and the football game yelling and screaming,” Mr Arkadief said.
“We have to be very careful about how we unwind this situation.”
He said it was going to be incredibly difficult for the bee industry over the next five years.”
“There’s not a lot of floral resource around Queensland and there’s a big demand at this time of the year for pollination,” Mr Arkadief said.
“So some of the growers are going to miss out on their pollination of their crops this year, especially in the Bundaberg region.
“If the orchard owners can’t get them, they might lose pollination or they’re going to have to pay significantly more, maybe to encourage beekeepers to come into their orchards.”
Training required
Mr Arkadief said beekeepers in Australia also needed training on how to handle the varroa threat.
“This is going to be nothing like we’ve ever seen before for us and it’s going to pose significant challenges to control because of our all-year weather conditions where the bees can breed all year, especially in Queensland,” he said.
“The sheer amount of labour required to just husband the bees to keep them alive means that honey production will probably fall very significantly, because you’ll be just using those opportunities where there’s conditions to keep the bees alive and do nothing else.”
