Another biosecurity zone has been set up in New South Wales after varroa mite was discovered in beehives on three more properties.
It comes as the destruction of hundreds of beehives in Newcastle and parts of New South Wales gets underway as authorities work to control the spread of the deadly parasite.
The detection of the Varroa destructor — commonly called the varroa mite — in the Port of Newcastle last week triggered a 10-kilometre eradication zone and halt on all movement of bees across the state.
The latest zone relates to an infested premises at Bulahdelah on the Mid North Coast, which is outside the previous zones, state Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders said.
"A new 10km eradication zone, 25km for surveillance and an extended 50km biosecurity zone have been implemented, to rapidly shut down that new incursion and stop further spread," Mr Saunders said.
"Critically, this case is directly linked to a previously identified property, which shows the prompt and efficient response by the Department of Primary Industries is working well."
The other two cases identified on Tuesday are at Newcastle and Seaham.
Seven infested premises have now been discovered through contact tracing.
Hives to be destroyed
The Department of Primary Industries and Local Land Services has so far earmarked 300 hives in the zone to be destroyed over the next few days.
"So far, just around the Newcastle area, there's been six sentinel hives and three private hives that have been destroyed and that will continue over the next day or so," Mr Saunders said.
One hundred and twenty hives were also destroyed in Trangie on Monday after government contact tracers found a commercial beekeeper near the port had recently sent some of his hives to the region.
"Although there was no detection of the actual mite in the hives at Trangie, given they were from the same property, the decision was made to destroy them as well," Mr Saunders said.
He said investigations were continuing to identify any other possible movements that may have spread the parasite.
"What we're really doing now is a lot of investigative work to see where other hives have travelled to.
Apiarists devastated
Peter King runs a 130-year-old beekeeping supply business in Cardiff and says a new sense of optimism in the sector has been ruined.
"When COVID took off people got into it [beekeeping] and we have been like that for the last couple of years," he said.
"Only now things have started to slow back down again and we're devastated with this."
Kurri Kurri apiarist Col Wilson said the thought of destroying hives was devastating.
"If you enjoy honey, go out and buy it while it's there, available."
Farmers concerned
Commercial blueberry farmer Vik Momi said the orders meant he could no longer move the bees he currently had on his Glenreagh property to the crops that needed them.
"The plants are going to start flowering soon and we have to move them into the summer crop," he said.
"[My beekeeper] says under the NSW guidelines he can't move them, he is only allowed to move them no more than 3 metres."
Mr Momi said he relied on bees to pollinate his crop and ensure his fruit was up to consumer standards.
"It's very important for everything, the pollination improves the fruit quality," he said.
"They make them juicier, bigger and tastier.
The effects of a widespread varroa mite outbreak or significant stoppage to bee movement will affect more than just blueberries.
Almonds, apples and cherries are some of the 35 agricultural industries reliant on bee pollination.
The ABC has contacted various fruit and vegetable industry bodies, many of whom have said it could be a number of weeks before an impact on produce prices is known.
With an unknown end date for movement restrictions, producers say it is difficult to speculate on the price rises.
