A NATIONAL plan to tackle the pest varroa mite has been approved by the national management group almost five months after the government's abandonment eradication efforts.
The varroa mite is an external parasitic mite that attacks and feeds on honey bees and is one of the most damaging honey bee pests in the world.
Varroa destructor is a distinctive-looking small mite, around 1mm in diameter and is reddish-brown colour and can be seen with the naked eye.
The mite attaches itself to the bee and feeds on them which weakens the bee and kills colonies.
A significant mite infestation leads to the death of a honey bee colony, usually in the late autumn through early spring.
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The Victorian Government announced effective February 16 that the entire state of Victoria was a general controlled area which means a person must not move affected livestock or livestock products into the general controlled area from any other state or territory.
However, this does not apply if a person has been issued a permit and the movement of stock is within the conditions of the permit.
Walkabout Apiaries business manager Greg Whitehead of Milawa believes while the varroa mite presents no problems locally, it will be a matter of time before problems will arise.
“Walkabout Apiaries produces local honey using Australian eucalypt trees from the high country,” Mr Whitehead said.
“Bees in NSW that have been detected with the mite are isolated with a red zone created where hives are restricted to travel.
“This is an example why beekeepers in Victoria are hesitant to travel into NSW due to risk of losing colonies.
“It is very important for these zones to be locked down.
“While laws and permits have been set by the Australian and state governments, we are still seeing bees with varroa mite travelling from the coast into inland Australia spreading mite.
“It’s not a matter of if but when we will be affected by varroa.”
Bees are contracted by local farmers to assist in pollination of flowers, however, the problem for beekeepers that multiple hives from various locations are contracted together which elevates the risk of mite.
“Multiple beekeepers are all contracted to almond plantations in the last week of July each year,” he said.
“As apiarists, we rely on the responsibility of others when multiple hives are brought together that the colonies have been checked and the bees are healthy and hives are constantly checked.
“This is the responsibility of everyone to ensure when the contract is met, our hives come home in perfect health.
“The consequence of varroa mite is that a loss of a hive can be around 40 per cent which is devastating when we are talking about 200-300 hives.
“Right now the best thing we can do is locate our hives to a safe and isolated area, regularly check hives and test for varroa mite.
“If all apiarists do the right thing, we can protect and preserve our bees and continue the production of quality honey.”
