As authorities destroy millions of bees in a bid to control the New South Wales varroa mite outbreak, devastated apiarists are waiting to learn how they will be compensated.
The Department of Primary Industries DPI has already destroyed 600 hives in New South Wales, each of which contain up to 30,000 bees.
The bees are gassed or doused in petrol and left overnight before the hives are torched.
Amateur beekeeper Ebonnie Newby said it was a shocking situation.
She said that it's pretty heartbreaking to be in the red zone but I can understand why it's being done.
I only have two hives, so for me it's just a hobby but it's devastating what's happening. Commercial apiarist Roland Inman said the measures would hurt many businesses.
He said that there were 20 hives at Booral and each hive has three boxes.
They are brand new, so you're looking at $1,000 with bees and frames, plus the queen for each one. Mr Inman is just outside the eradication zone but he fears that he could soon lose his hive.
You're always wondering where am I, and you're always wondering, "OK, where am I?" When will it be my turn to lose everything? He said something.
I had planned to get up to 60 hives - we've got a brand, we're selling our honey at the markets, we're doing mail orders.
Inman said it was hard to watch the situation unfold.
I'm not very happy at all and who would it be? He said something.
Who would be happy with the thought of anything up to $1,000, 000 gone through no fault of your own? Do we need to be issued with varroa mite strips so we can start managing for this, or at least doing damage control?
Many of the guys in the industry are old, so these are mostly old men at the end of their careers.
Inman said he hoped that communication from the Department of Primary Industries would be clearer.
He said it would be nice to get updates.
I would have gotten a text message within two hours from someone who is registered, but I would have thought that in the age of modern technology.
I've had three emails a day. NSW Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders said compensation would be available for affected apiarists, but the details are still being worked out.
He said that we're working very hard with industry to come up with a meaningful compensation package that can support beekeepers into the future.
I am meeting with the federal Ag Minister to discuss how that looks from a Commonwealth perspective, but there are still meaningful discussions around what the industry expects and wants to do. Mr Saunders said he understood how difficult the situation was for beekeepers.
He said that we're aware that we're affecting people's livelihoods and we're aware of that.
Everyone knows how important it is to get this right in the early stages, so we're working very collaboratively to make sure that we represent all the beekeepers in the state. Queensland and Victoria have been the latest states to ban bees, beehives and bee products, such as honey from anywhere in NSW.
The announcement followed a similar order issued by South Australia on Wednesday.