Almond growers on red alert over mite outbreak

Ground zero of the outbreak of the varroa mite outbreak in NSW may not be the Port of Newcastle, as previously believed, and likely started further north at least as early as December.

Bees within the red zones will be destroyed, breaking the hearts of dedicated beekeepers like David Vial, whose hives were located in Williamtown. Picture: Nick Cubbin

Ground zero of the varroa mite outbreak in NSW is unlikely to be the Port of Newcastle, as previously believed, and probably started further north around Williamtown at least as early as ­December.

The mite, which weakens and destroys beehives, is threatening the future of Australia’s beekeeping industry and causing chaos for farmers and fruit growers who rely on the movement of bees for crop pollination.

It was first detected in routine assessment of a sentinel hive at the Port of Newcastle on June 22, leading experts to believe the mite, which has had a devastating effect on honey bees on all inhabited continents except Australia, had arrived via a ship.

In an interview with The Weekend Australian Magazine’s Greg Bearup, Chris Anderson, who is leading the NSW government’s response to the outbreak, said the initial incursion is now believed to have been near Williamtown, 15km north of the port, where it may have come in on a ship moored off the coast or a plane arriving at the nearby RAAF base.

The understanding that the mite has been present in the country since at least December has led to increased contact tracing by authorities.

Red zones have been established around the central NSW coast, preventing the movement of bees and the spread of the mite.

Bees within the red zones will be destroyed, breaking the hearts of dedicated beekeepers like David Vial, whose hives were located in Williamtown.

The outbreak grew this week with the detection of 17 new affect­ed hives, within existing red zones, bringing the total of affected hives to 73.

“We have refocused our efforts on tracing and euthanising hives within the eradication zone, which has led to an increased number of detections in recent days,” Dr Anderson said in a statement on Thursday night.

“The good news is that all confirmed cases either have clear links to existing cases or are geographically linked through the movement of hives or equipment, which continues to give us confidence we are on the right track.”

Movement restrictions on hives brought in by state governments have caused headaches for the country’s almond growers, who fear their $1bn crop could be significantly hampered next year by a shortage of bees during the current pollination season.

Victoria and Queensland have prevented the movement of hives from NSW across the border, leading to a 70,000-hive shortage in northern Victoria, where most of our almonds are grown.

Almond growers are furious, given that just over the border, north of the Murray River, thousands of hives sit unused.

They say Queensland beekeepers have been scared off from taking their hives to Victoria, despite NSW allowing the transport of Queensland hives through NSW and into Victoria.

Almond Board of Australia chief Tim Jackson described it as “an absolute debacle” and said abrupt border closures had undermined emergency response plans that agriculture industries had contributed to. “We’ve got state- based politics in different risk appetites undermining the whole process, to the point where our industry is facing tens of millions of dollars of lost productivity, potentially, by not being able to get bees across a river 500-600km away from the incursion,” he said.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty around pollination and what happens to bees on their return if a bee turns up with a mite in an almond orchard. So without any firm plans, across four states, our industry has been held to ransom.”