West Australian honey producers say they are increasingly anxious about the spread of the destructive varroa mite across New South Wales and fear complacency has left the state’s industry ill-prepared for an outbreak.
Key points:
- As varroa spreads in NSW, the WA beekeeping industry is divided over whether eradication is still possible
- There are fears traffic moving from the east will inadvertently transport the destructive mite into WA
- But authorities say they are “incredibly confident” it can be kept out.
Varroa destructor attacks European honeybees and is regarded as one of the greatest threats to Australia’s honey and honey bee pollination plant industries.
It was detected in sentinel hives in NSW in June last year, but has spread to several new locations in recent weeks, prompting debate about whether eradication is possible, or if NSW should transition to a varroa management policy.
Pemberton beekeeper and WA Bee Industry Council vice chair Mike Cernotta said there was a “huge risk” of varroa entering WA through traffic on the east-west freight link or through swarms of feral bees, and the state was not prepared.
“We had a national blitz where we encouraged beekeepers all over the nation to do alcohol washes, which is the primary detection tool to look for varroa, and unfortunately the uptake in WA was relatively poor … I think it’s complacency,” he said.
“We are pleading with WA beekeepers to do the minimum.
“Time is ticking … the risk is growing, and we really need people to get serious about biosecurity, because otherwise we may find ourselves in a similar situation to NSW where we are scrambling to try and get on top of this pest. ”
Mr Cernotta said he supported eradication attempts continuing in NSW.
“I’d be lying if I said we didn’t have extreme levels of anxiety, because there is nothing we can do other than sit and watch,” he said.
“It’s devastating to see beekeepers facing [hive destruction], but the reality is they’re taking a hit for the rest of the nation’s beekeepers.”
Moving forward with varroa
Kim Fewster has been in the honey industry for 50 years, selling into a range of international markets.
He said it was time to accept varroa could not be eradicated.
“The science should say eradication isn’t possible because of the distribution of varroa and the uncertainty about where it is,” he said.
“I’m an optimist, but with the discovery in Kempsey, they don’t know the source of … the infection, [and] it has escaped.
“Whilst as an industry we are very reluctant to throw in the towel, I’m listening to the NSW beekeepers, and if I was in their position this is what I’d do.”
Despite describing the Nullarbor as “our best protection” Mr Fewster said it was inevitable varroa would spread into WA on vehicles due to the adult mite’s ability to survive for five or six days without food.
But Mr Fewster said he was confident varroa could be managed, both organically and inorganically, using a range of products and physical hive management techniques, such as using and freezing drone combs.
He said genetics may also play a part in creating varroa-resistant bees, and the industry was looking to potentially import bee semen from Northern Hemisphere countries that had varroa-tolerant bee populations.
“The biggest loss to Western Australia will be the complete loss of all the feral colonies in the state,” he said.
“And you might say they are feral so they shouldn’t be there, but those feral colonies do a lot of free pollination for our horticultural industries.
“Once they are gone, the free pollination from those is gone [and] the horticultural industries will be forced to pay for pollination.”
Organic production could cease
Not all beekeepers agree that management rather than eradication is the best way forward.
Albany-based beekeeper Daniel Warne said Australia should continue to try and remove varroa.
“I just can’t see any other way forward, other than throwing everything we can at eradication,” he said.
“If people are aware of what’s to come [from] not eradicating hives and the future living with varroa, I think everyone would give a lot more positive feedback as to how things are going,” he said.
He said the most disappointing outcome would be Australia’s failure to capitalise on its natural monofloral honeys, derived primarily from the nectar of one plant.
“We’re the last beekeeping environment on earth that doesn’t have varroa and doesn’t need to use miticides and poisons to produce honey,” Mr Warne said.
“It’s just going to be a disappointment that we haven’t … really showcased our honeys to the world [before the arrival of varroa mite].
“I would rather have food that’s produced without chemicals than with, and we’re not going to have that choice if varroa sets in.”
Confident in biosecurity borders
Western Australia’s chief plant biosecurity officer, Sonya Broughton, said the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DIPRD) was conducting ongoing surveillance for varroa and other threats, including the red dwarf honey bee, which had been detected in the state’s north
Dr Broughton said DPIRD supported continuing efforts to eradicate varroa.
She said DPIRD had four staff on its bee surveillance team, plus other staff trained in bee surveillance in case of a varroa outbreak, and had already been offered support from the state’s commercial beekeeping industry.
Dr Broughton said she was “incredibly confident” varroa could be kept out of WA due to quarantine border and post surveillance, which checked for bee or honey material from the eastern states, all of which was prohibited in Western Australia.
