Australia is attempting to protect honey bees after the discovery of a mite that has ravaged hive hives in the world has sparked fears for the pollinators crucial to the country s A $83 billion $57 billion agricultural industry.
Biosecurity officials in New South Wales, the most populous state, have imposed a bee lock down after the detection of the Varroa destructor mite at the Port of Newcastle on Friday. The incursion threatens Australia's status as the only major honey producer to have avoided the establishment of the deadly pest, which has been blamed for the widespread use of neonicotinoid pesticides for colony collapse in the US.
Eradication plans will be enacted in a 10 kilometer 6.2 mile emergency zone around the port, while no bees are allowed to be moved across the state. The discovery is a serious concern for producers of Australian honey products, which often reap hefty premiums in overseas markets including Asia, as well as growers heavily reliant on commercial honey bees for crop pollination.
If varroa mite settles in the state, it will have severe consequences, so we are taking every precaution and action necessary to contain the parasite and protect the local honey industry and pollination, New South Wales Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders said.
Infected with the varroa mite cause a wide range of diseases among European honey bees that weaken and reduce populations, leading to colony death. The parasite does not affect smaller, stingless native bees.
Death rates among honey bee colonies have been a concern for decades, and are attributed to issues ranging from extreme weather and crop-chemical exposure to parasites. Australia also exports European honey bees, including to Canada - where agricultural producers are currently struggling with the fallout from a plummeting bee population.
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