1 Sep 2023
The national body of government and industry experts advising the Varroa mite eradication program has backed a plan to safely move bee hives located in recently established eradication (red) zones in Southern New South Wales.
NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Chief Plant Protection Officer Shane Hetherington said the National Management Group, which includes all state and Commonwealth governments and representatives from the apiary and pollination dependent industries, responded to a clear biosecurity risk.
“Southern New South Wales is currently hosting the largest concentration of managed European honeybee hives in Australia to provide pollination services for almond orchards,” he said.
“Recent tracing of beehives moved from Varroa mite emergency eradication (red) zones in the Kempsey region led to the identification of four infested premises at Euston, Balranald, Euroley and Nericon.
“The creation of eradication (red) and surveillance (purple) zones centred on those sites would normally prevent the further movement of all hives in those areas.
“However, floral resources are rapidly declining as the flowering period finishes and that creates an escalating biosecurity risk, as bees will naturally start to look for other food sources potentially leading to bee swarming or robbing behaviour.
“Due to the sheer numbers of hives in the region, it’s therefore imperative that we quickly move hives out of the area to more plentiful food sources or we risk the likelihood of the bees travelling further afield and potentially spreading the Varroa mite.”
The following movement management strategy will apply to Apiarists within immediate vicinity of the four identified sites:
Beekeepers with hives within a 0-3 kilometre radius of one of the four infested premises at Balranald, Euroley, Euston and Nericon:
Beekeepers with hives within a 3 - 6 kilometre radius of one of the four infested premises at Balranald, Euroley, Euston and Nericon, may:
Beekeepers with hives within a 6 - 10 kilometre radius of one of the four infested premises at Balranald, Euroley, Euston and Nericon, may:
“We acknowledge this is a unique situation that seeks to balance risk and protect livelihoods and industries,” Dr. Hetherington added.
“We thank our state’s beekeepers for their continued perseverance, understanding and cooperation.”
This program change is included in a new Emergency Order gazetted today, which also updates the total number of infested premises to 233 following the detection of Varroa mite in hives near Boggabri and at Hat Head.
Both the Boggabri and Hat Head sites are directly linked to the Kempsey cluster through the movement of hives and proximity to infested premises.
For more information on the nationally endorsed Varroa mite Emergency Response visit www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/varroa.
Media: (02) 6391 3686 or email: nswdpi.media@dpi.nsw.gov.au