Floods inundate many NSW properties

Floodwaters have inundated properties around much of the NSW Hunter Valley, just when beekeepers thought varroa mite was their biggest concern.

Residents around Bulga, Broke, and low-lying areas of Singleton have been evacuated overnight, with one river breaking a 70-year flood height record.

Ahead of the forecast heavy rain, beekeeper Josh Johnson moved his beehives from his Belford property to his home in Branxton.

He could do that under a permit from the Department of Primary Industries DPI for beekeepers in flood warning zones, despite the varroa mite hive movement ban.

But it was too late for some hives.

We managed to recover five of them and get them home, but we aren't able to open them up and check them because of the varroa mite outbreak. Last time, in the February, March floods we had to open the hives up and take brood frames out of other hives we had off-site, this time we can't do that, so we're probably going to lose those hives as well. The NSW DPI said varroa mite would not spread through flooding.

It's a terrible topic to talk about, but the reality is that if the host, the bees, don't survive flooding then the mite can't survive, NSW Deputy Chief Plant Protection Officer Dr Chris Anderson said.

Johnson is awaiting clarity on when he will be able to rebuild his colonies.

The total number of properties found with varroa mite is up to 24, but authorities remain confident that they can control the outbreak.

Millions of bees will be destroyed in designated eradication zones, mainly up and down the NSW coast and Narrabri.

If Australia is freed from varroa mite, the authorities say a program of host eradication will continue for three years.

The DPI said in a statement that it was intended to minimise the risk of varroa or survival of varroa on untected hosts within the zones.

Beekeepers can keep the hives in surveillance zones, but they can not move them or introduce more bees.

But hives won't be allowed to enter or leave this zone. The DPI said it would make a risk-based decision soon, as for Johnson's property in the notification zone, the 25 to 50 kilometres of infected premises.

Johnson said he understood the bees needed to be destroyed to eradicate the mite, but he said it would be a challenge for his business going forward.

They are our babies, he said.

He hopes that they will be able to restart the honey collection in the coming months.

My wife is heavily involved in it, and it's her full income, what we get from the honey sales.

She has to find other work without that.