THERE'S been renewed efforts to stop exotic bee pests and disease at Victoria's borders due to investments into a national program.
Agriculture Victoria bee biosecurity officer Ally Driessen said there were 20 sentinel hives at four Victorian ports - Melbourne, Geelong, Hastings and Portland - all being monitored.
"Our sentinel hives are monitored every six weeks as part of a national program aimed at providing an early alert system to pests such as Varroa mite entering Australia," Ms Driessan said.
"As part of our bee husbandry, hives are checked and if required re-queened.
"The queen bee is vital to the hive and it's important that she is healthy and productive."
Ms Driessen said if a new queen bee was required, they could be sourced from a variety of breeders around Victoria.
"If a pest was to enter Australia, ports are one of the most likely places with bees arriving on ships," she said.
"Having hives at these sites helps us know very early on and hopefully stop them spreading."
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Ms Driessen said separately to the hives, there were efforts to include local beekeepers in the efforts to prevent pests entering the country.
The Honeybee Pest Warrior program mobilises more than 600 beekeepers who live within a five-kilometre radius of ports.
A part of the program also has beekeepers complete a sugar shake and a drone uncapping which is a key tool ensuring the health of a beehive.
"There is a whole community of beekeepers who live close to ports and are very aware of the health of their hives, they know when something isn't right and we have engaged them to be our eyes and ears as well," she said.
"When there was an incursion of Varroa mite in Victoria in 2018 they were some of the first people we visited to help us confirm what we were dealing with and they helped spread key information to beekeepers across the state.
"Recording negative results are just as important as positive detections, as they help us to prove ongoing freedom of exotic bee pests in Victoria."
The investment into programs have been delivered by Plant Health Australia and funded by Hort Innovation using research and development levies of horticultural industries, co-investment from Grain Producers Australia and Australian Honey Bee Industry Council as well as federal government contributions.
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