Australia will cease efforts to eradicate varroa mite and transition to management of the deadly bee parasite.
About 30,000 hives have been euthanased by authorities since varroa mite was detected 15 months ago in sentinel hives at the Port of Newcastle.
The $132 million varroa response plan was the largest biosecurity outbreak in the country’s history, and until now, Australia had been the last continent to remain free of the parasitic mite.
The decision was made by the National Management Group on Tuesday night that it was no longer technically feasible to eradicate varroa mite and had entered a transition to management phase.
The decision was made following reports of non-compliance on hive movement and testing and a spike in new detections across large areas.
The management group said NSW would operate under an interim strategy to limit the impacts and slow the spread of varroa mite while a revised response plan was being developed by the Consultative Committee on Emergency Plant Pests.
Varroa destructor is a small mite that attaches to bees and eats their “fat body”.
The fat bodies of honey bees are the insect equivalent of a liver.
Varroa weakens bees, reduces their life span and increases the spread of deadly viruses.
Major changes
NSW Department of Primary Industries deputy director general of biosecurity and food safety, John Tracey, said the transition to management would focus on an immediate stand down of mandatory eradication.
“It will establish programs to manage the movement and spread of varroa and will include some zones,” he said.
The current red eradication zones in the Hunter, Central Coast and Kempsey will become management zones.
He said while the mandatory euthanasia of hives would cease, beekeepers in red zones could opt for voluntary euthansia and be eligible for compensation.
“There will be a focus on management solutions for mites in hives and for industry to build resilience and to support pollination services,,” he said.
“There will be free movement allowed within the management zones, there will be movement allowed between those existing management zones under secure conditions and there will also be an opportunity for movement under permit with certain conditions based on risk inside and out of that zone.”
Dr Tracey said the department would make miticide strips available to beekeepers in management zones.
The strips kill the varroa mite without impacting bees.
Beekeepers across NSW will still be required to continue conducting alcohol washes every 16 weeks and reporting the results.
