Varroa mite biosecurity alert for apiarists within 50km of port of Newcastle
ABC reports a short while ago "Varroa mite detection at Port of Newcastle threatens Australia's bee industry".
Quote:
Originally Posted by 22 June 2022, Olivia Calver, ABC News
Varroa mite has been detected in biosecurity surveillance hives at the Port of Newcastle, threatening the bee industry.
Australia has been the only continent to remain free of the parasite, with previous detections in Queensland and Victoria eradicated.
The Varroa destructor, commonly called varroa mite, spreads viruses that cripple bees' ability to fly, gather food, or emerge from their cell to be born.
It also significantly reduces their ability to pollinate crops.
NSW Agricultural Minister Dugald Saunders said an emergency biosecurity zone was now in place around the Newcastle port and the contaminated hives have been contained.
Beekeepers within 50 kilometres of the port are being ordered not to move hives or equipment in or out of that area.
"It is a really concerning situation. We're now calling on beekeepers right across the state to help safeguard their industry," Mr Saunders said.
Mr Saunders said a varroa mite outbreak could cost the agricultural industry $70 million a year in losses.
One in three mouthfuls of food benefit from honey bee pollination, with some crops like almonds, blueberries, avocados, and apples completely dependent on pollination.
It has been reported that hived bees in the US dropped by about 30 per cent when it was found there, and native bee populations dropped by 90 per cent when it arrived in New Zealand.
Industry confident contamination contained
The Australian Honey Bee Industry Council said it was working closely with the NSW Department of Primary Industries.
"We're really confident that it is isolated and contained to the Port of Newcastle," acting chief executive Danny Le Feuvre said.
He said the NSW DPI had staff going door to door to make sure all hives were accounted for in the Newcastle area.
"We'll also be putting out communications in the local area for any beekeepers … who have backyard hives, or even are aware of feral hives," Mr Le Feuvre said.
"That way we'll be able to find all the hives and really get on top of this situation."
Those found with food declared or non declare when attempting to enter Aust should be immediately extradited. No hearing, no deals, bio safe destruction of all goods plus a five year travel ban.
Fines dont work, extradition and travel bans work.
We need our bio security to be as solid as a parliamentary pension, rock solid
To be fair, it is unlikely that any bee would bring in this hazard with an individual on a plane . This is likely the result of a colony of bees in a ship or external cargo which is why it is first detected in sentinel hives around the port.
Where we all import more and more items from overseas and insist they arrive quickly and in greater numbers it becomes more and more difficult to keep out stowaway insects and water borne hazards.
The only real long term solution would be offshore container and cargo terminals with quarantine and irradiated tunnels to bring sealed containers ashore and to export materials to keep vessels offshore. That would just be impossibly expensive now.
The department of primary industries does a great job training us all in bee keeping and bio hazard security as does customs in keeping most things out.
Varroa mite detected at Calga, Central Coast NSW : 1 July 2022
Quote:
Originally Posted by By Laura Chung, 1 July 2022, Sydney Morning Herald
The varroa mite, which is deadly to honey bees, has been detected along the Central Coast as authorities increase the number of beehives set to be destroyed in a bid to control the spread of the parasite.
NSW Department of Primary Industries acting chief plant protection officer Chris Anderson said the agency had established an emergency biosecurity zone around a property in Calga, west of Gosford, which became effective on Thursday.
“Since varroa mite was first identified at the Port of Newcastle last week, NSW DPI has been working with apiary industry bodies and stakeholders to ensure beekeepers are informed and empowered to be part of this critical response,” he said.
“So far many of the [nine] infested premises have been located very close together so the emergency zones covered largely the same areas but recent detections at Bulahdelah [north of Newcastle] and Calga have expanded the area.”
...
While the mite only impacts European honeybees, it can carry diseases that would affect native bees, such as the deformed wing virus. In New Zealand, feral honeybee populations plummeted to about 10 per cent of what they were within four years of the mites arriving in 2000.
Bee ecologist from the Waite Research Institute at The University of Adelaide Dr Jay Iwasaki said the mites had most likely hitched a ride to Australia after a colony of bees established a hive on a shipping container boat while it was docked overseas.
He said that, while the mites had been detected in other ports across Australia previously, they had not escaped further into the bee population.
Varroa mite biosecurity alert for apiarists within 50km of port of Newcastle
