SOUTH Australia remains free of the varroa mite parasite, with the South Australian Apiarists Association president Leigh Duffield committed to maintaining this achievement.
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To keep this up, he says SA needs to keep its borders closed to the eastern states, where there have been several outbreaks in the past year.
But he said this would put pressure on certain agricultural sectors that relied on bees for pollination services.
"There's talk of opening the borders and the border closure with the eastern states at this point of time has served South Australia very well," he said.
"If they keep the border closed they're gonna have a shortage of bees already in NSW and Vic, because of the grower lockdown over there."
The Varroa mite parasite can destroy bee colonies while it feeds of honey bee larvae and adult honeybees.
If varroa mite does make it's way to SA it is expected to have a significant effect on the wild European honeybee populations that crop growers rely on for pollination.
There is a concern the varroa mite parasite and pollination diseases could spread throughout SA, if they do arrive there, Mr Duffield said.
"Most of us do beans, canola, pulses, and all sorts of things with incidental pollination across the state," he said.
"If we go onto the almonds and per chance we do pick up some disease, we'll then be taking it to every corner of the state when we come away.
"Every eastern state - that's including South Australia - may well finish up with the same level of incidents, which in about three years time could be pretty dramatic."
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Mr Duffield said there had been a focus since 1993 on ensuring the Varroa mite parasite and pollination diseases stayed out of Australia.
"We started working on it in 1993 and then unfortunately the Varroa mite did enter Australia in June last year - through Newcastle we believe - and that's really seen the whole momentum increase dramatically," he said.
People must remain vigilant for signs of varroa mite and pollination diseases, Mr Duffield said.
"There's never enough awareness, you've got to be vigilant all the time otherwise it creeps in and you're not prepared," he said.
"We're starting to communicate a lot better with PIRSA and we're starting to get some awareness among the beekeepers," he said.
"We're looking at strategies for the control of the Varroa mite in our hives and looking at what chemicals we can use.
"We would prefer to use the soft organic type of chemicals, because it's not as easy to develop a resistance to the chemicals if we use organic chemicals."
As every other country outside of Antarctica had varroa mite, Mr Duffield said everyone must remain alert.
"Every country is a risk, so we have to be alert and vigilant all the time to make sure our borders are secure, our biosecurity is up to speed and all beekeepers are abiding by the rules," he said.
"We've got to look at other countries to find out what they're doing to manage it and incorporate that into our strategies, should it become an epidemic in Australia."
When he considered the possibility of Varroa mite entering SA, Mr Duffield said he had a clear strategy.
"You always hope for the best, but you prepare for the worst, that's been my theory for a number of years," he said.
"We've spent a lot of money at this point of time, we should've gained a lot of experience on how to cope, with these situations."
Mr Duffield said there was some positive news for SA apiarists on the horizon with the announcement of new digital reforms in Australia that streamlined the export certification process to Great Britain and the European Union.
"SA produces some of the milder flavour honeys and because of our dry climate we've got a very good moisture level, which gives the honey a very good density," he said.
"We have developed over 80 years of marketing into the United Kingdom of that quality and if we get back in there again, we may be able to reinvigorate the demand for that product."
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