Two-and-a-half months after varroa destructor was detected in New South Wales, another exotic honey bee pest has been found in the state for the first time.
Braula fly, endemic in Tasmania and every continent in the world, was detected in Victoria during varroa mite surveillance of almond hives last month.
The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) has now confirmed a detection of braula fly via the illegal movement of beehives from Victoria to New South Wales.
"NSW DPI has negotiated the immediate return of the hives back to Victoria and is working with the owner to ensure that there is no risk of spread from these hives and NSW is kept free of braula fly," a spokesperson said.
"Braula is a wingless fly that lives in honey bee colonies but is not considered a significant pest or threat to the welfare of honey bees."
It is a notifiable pest in New South Wales, which means producers have to report any detections to authorities.
NSW Apiarists' Association president Steve Fuller said while not a significant bee threat, the detection of another exotic pest was still very concerning.
"It's not a bad pest, like varroa. It's a pest that actually feeds on honey so it damages honeycomb, so producers of honeycomb or what we call chunk comb must freeze it now before they can sell it," he said.
"The larvae buries through the comb and makes tunnels. It's just a thing that makes it look ugly and also can carry larvae from one place to the other.
"It's a wingless fly, it's a really unique fly, so it virtually hops on the bees and just spreads from hive to hive that way."
Queen bees targeted
While the small, red-brown braula fly looks very similar to varroa mite, Mr Fuller said it was easy to distinguish once people knew the difference.
"It's just a matter of having a good look at it and you'll see it's not varroa, but if you're not sure it certainly puts the wind in you," he said.
The braula fly prefers to attach to the queen, rather than worker or drone bees, and that could be an issue for queen breeders selling to braula fly free states.
"The easiest place to find them is to have a look for the queen, once you find the queen sometimes she might have half a dozen or more on her," he said.
"They like to hop on her for some reason.
"We haven't seen any significant change in the queen of her egg laying ability but if you sell queens, that's another thing that becomes a problem."
Mr Fuller said braula fly had already been eradicated a number of times from Victoria.
"They're not sure how it got into Victoria this time, now we're not sure how it's got into New South Wales because the hives that have come over are supposed to have had a clean bill of health," he said.
However, the New South Wales DPI has confirmed the movement of hives was illegal and will be investigated.
Agriculture Victoria has confirmed the detection was in hives sourced from Victoria.
"Any beekeeper intending to move hives interstate is reminded that they must comply with all relevant permits and requirements of the state they are moving into," a spokesperson said in a statement.
