Beekeeper warns of bee stings at NSW-Vic border checks
Beekeepers are warning police they might not have just people to look out for at NSW-Victorian border checks as hives are moved during almond pollination season and bees are attracted to bright lights at night.
IT may become the biggest police sting ever.
The move to shut down the border between NSW and Victoria has seen trucks and cars queuing up to get through the police border checks.
But beekeepers are highlighting a potential hive of activity if there are hold-ups in the traffic at night-time in coming weeks as the almond industry moved into its pollination period.
NSW Apiarists Association president Steve Targett said bees were attracted to bright lights at night.
If a truck stopped, the bees could be attracted to bright lights, such as police car flashing lights, car headlights or even the lights on helmets being used to check permits.
“It will be particularly a problem for trucks coming out of Victoria,” Mr Targett said.
“The bees would have only been on the trucks for a short period of time and were not likely to have settled down.
“If there was any excuse to get off the truck, the bees will leave.
“Checkpoints have headlights and they attract bees.
“It becomes an issue because between 1 and 2 per cent of the population have an anaphylactic reaction to bees.”
Mr Targett said authorities needed to make special provisions for the checking of beekeepers at the closed borders to ensure adequate protection of people.
He said one option was to set aside a dark area for the checking of beekeepers’ permits before quickly waving them through the checkpoint.
Another option was to ensure certain border crossings and times were only open to beekeeper’s trucks.
Mr Targett said the recently-opened Tooleybuc crossing and the bridge at Robinvale were the best options as they were a distance from human populations.
Beekeeper and beehive broker Trevor Monson, of Monson Honey and Pollination at Mildura said hundreds of trucks carrying beehives were likely to cross state borders with the almond industry coming into pollination period from late July.
Mr Monson said he had about 225 truckloads to move over a week.
They risk of transferring the coronavirus was minimal, as beekeepers moved quickly to unload their cargo in almond orchards before returning for another lot of beehives.
Bee industry representatives from NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland were meeting with government authorities today to take the sting out of the looming issue.
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