New South Wales’ almond industries are facing a “worst-case scenario” after varroa mite was detected in hives in the Riverina and Sunraysia.
Key points:
- Varroa mite has been found at hives in Euston and Euroley
- The state government says it is confident it has caught the outbreak early
- There are now 215 premises in NSW infected with varroa mite
The bee parasite outbreak can be traced back to hives from an infected premise in the Kempsey area.
The NSW Department of Primary Industries has established a 10-kilometre eradication zone around the infected hives and a 25-kilometre surveillance zone — meaning no hives can be moved into, within or out of these areas — in a bid to hamper the mite’s spread.
It comes 10 days after a varroa mite cluster was discovered near Kempsey, on the state’s north coast.
DPTI chief plant protection officer Shane Hetherington said some of the infected hives were traced back to the Kempsey region.
“The new detection at Euston has clear links to an infested premise in the Kempsey area, which we’ve been able to track through the movement declaration process,” Mr Hetherington said.
Enormous impact on industry
Australian Honey Bee Council chief executive Danny LeFeuvre said in light of this recent finding, containing varroa mite in Australia has now become much more complicated.
“It’s the worst-case scenario for the response having detection in blue zones, and so far away and in a high-risk area with almonds and other hives in close proximity,” he said.
Crop Pollination of Australia president Steve Fuller said with so many hives from across the country positioned in the Riverina and Sunraysia at the moment for the almond pollination, the outbreaks could have a big impact on the industry.
“This is our greatest fear. You’re looking at tens of thousands of hives in those areas doing almond population at the moment,” he said.
“This is bigger than Ben Hur now.”
Almond Board of Australia chief executive Tim Jackson said it may be time for Australia to switch from trying to eradicate varroa mite to managing it as best as possible.
“This is the straw that broke the camel’s back around eradication,” he said.
“You would think it’s inevitable there would be a change in how we tackle varroa and it would be more about management than eradication.”
Eradication unlikely, but possible
However, Mr Hetherington says NSW DPI still believes in eradication.
“That’s absolutely still our aim. One of the things that NSW DPI wants to emphasise is that this is a national effort and NSW DPI leads that effort,” he said.
Despite the concerns from industry, Mr Hetherington said the government was confident about its monitoring of varroa mite.
“We are pretty confident we have found it early and that’s because of that efficiency of that traceback system,” he said.
“The fact that we were able to look at the tracing from that Kempsey zone and look at where we should be looking and found a risk, that in our mind is a pretty good thing.”
Varroa mites parasitise bees, slowing them down, weakening them, killing them and eventually causing colony collapse.
The latest finding brings the total number varroa mite-infected premises in NSW to 215.
