Varroa mite eradication abandoned, spiking Queensland beekeepers' anxiety

On September 19, the National Management Group (NMG) confirmed at its meeting that eradication was "no longer feasible" following advice from the Consultative Committee on Emergency Plant Pests (CCEPP), and has now entered a transition to management phase.

The NMG will meet again in the coming weeks to consider further technical advice from the CCEPP on options.

Varroa was detected in Newcastle, NSW, in June 2022 and $101 million was spent containing it to the state, but there are now concerns the change in approach will lead to its spread.

According to the federal government, if the mite establishes here, Australia could lose most wild European honey bee nests, costing an estimated $70 million a year in losses.

Queensland Beekeepers' Association secretary, Jo Martin, said while it was "a decision that has had to be made", anxiety levels were high across the border.

"There are a lot of well being issues out there," Ms Martin said.

"I have had many late phone calls with beekeepers who haven't been comfortable having a conversation with their loved ones, their staff.

"There is a sizeable portion of grief out there at the moment. Anxiety because of uncertainty is probably the really, really big thing."

Commercial beekeeping is a craft that is often transferred from one generation to the next, so any exodus of apiarists would harm the industry, Ms Martin said.

"We've got an ageing population, and if the ageing population just decides this is all too hard, it's going to be really difficult to replace that," she said.

While questions have been asked about a honey price rise, the QBA secretary says it is too early to comment.

"I'm thinking more cautiously along the lines of the impacts to the supply chain," she said.

"It's not just the guys that have put the tree crops in the ground for the orchards. It's their pickers, it's their packers, it's the guys driving trucks and supermarkets.

"The 15-year-old kid that's packing fruit and veg in his local supermarket for his part time job."

Jacob Stevens, a beekeeper at Condamine Apiaries, Wheatvale, near Warwick, said the decision provided some certainty but also created more questions.

"At least the beekeepers that are directly impacted by it have got a bit of clarity on the certainty of their future, but for the rest of us, it's fairly uncertain times; for the beekeeping industry as a whole now," Mr Stevens said.

"It'll be very widespread. Who knows whether it's going to be next week or next month or next year, or how much time we have up our sleeves? It is a matter of time before it spreads fairly widely across the eastern seaboard."

Mr Stevens, who is also QBA president, said it was "a shame" the situation developed so quickly that it was hard to see eradication being successful, but now it was time to focus on the future.

He said the most important thing was to continue learning from other Varroa-affected countries and have a plan in place for their own business.

"It's fairly hard to have that sort of big picture perspective at this stage, but it's certainly something that we've considered around our kitchen table as to what things might look like for us," Mr Stevens said.

"It's certainly going to be a lot of trial and error when we do get it, but certainly, we do think we have a little bit of time."

The beekeeper said there were a lot of tough decisions to be made by a lot of people in the next couple of weeks and state governments had a role to play.

"I think this is a time more than ever that we do need state governments to step up to the plate and do a bit of extension work with the beekeeping industry," he said.

"The state government can go a long way in providing industry a bit of confidence and a bit of a morale boost in the next little while."

State agriculture minister, Mark Furner, said Queensland would join other Australian states and territories in transitioning from eradication to management of Varroa mite.

"The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries acknowledges the hard work done to this point by the NSW government and beekeeping and pollination reliant industries," Mr Furner said.

Mr Furner said during the transitional phase to a formal management plan, a pause on the issuance of permits for movements of bee hives and bee-related material from NSW into Queensland would be in place while the risks were being assessed.

He said early detection was key to containment and tracking of the pest.

"Queensland beekeepers are being asked to regularly monitor their hives and immediately report unexpected hive deaths, deformed bees, bees with parasites, poor brood patterns and dead brood to Biosecurity Queensland," he said.

As of September 25, 1210 surveys have been completed by Queensland beekeepers who have tested more than 20,929 hives via the Bee 123 form to report their findings.

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