Australia's sniffer dogs haven't been sniffing for queen bees and were not on the beat when the deadly varroa mite arrived last year.
That's despite the threat of the bee parasite devastating honey bee populations and causing tens of millions of dollars of disruption to food crops across Australia.
A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry confirmed to the ABC that, for seven years, its dogs were not detecting the scent of bees, but could not answer why.
"Queen bees were re-introduced to the detector dog target odour list at the end of 2022 as part of a review into risk controls for varroa mite," the spokesperson said.
"We understand the odour was removed in 2015, however there is no specific information relating to the decision made at that time."
The revelations come as the department looks to cut costs after falling hundreds of millions of dollars into debt.
Detection of varroa mite in surveillance hives in New South Wales last June prompted warnings that it could cost the agriculture sector $70 million a year in losses if the mite spread to other hives.
Authorities warned yesterday that six new cases of varroa infestations had been detected, including some outside of Newcastle, where the majority of cases had so far been found.
Australia had been the only continent free of the parasite, which has destroyed bee colonies around the globe, and which the department deems the most-serious "global pest" when it comes to honey bees.
The Australian Honey Bee Industry Council's Danny Le Feuvre said he was surprised to learn that Australia's sniffer dogs had only recently resumed training to detect the scent of queen bees.
"We were unaware of this happening," Mr Le Feuvre said when contacted by the ABC.
"The sniffer dogs are our first line of defence. To know that one of the critical tools in the tool kit — sniffer dogs — hasn't been used is concerning.
"We know that the queens can carry a raft of different viruses, diseases and pests."
Authorities are yet to determine how the varroa mite entered Australia, but Mr Le Feuvre said it was "certainly a possibility" the varroa mite could have "hitchhiked on a queen bee".
He welcomed the resumption of detector dog training for the queen bee odour.
Apples, cherries, macadamias on hit list if pest spreads
Plant Health Australia's Sarah Corcoran agreed that the current outbreak could possibly have been prevented by a detector dog.
Ms Corcoran said that more than $55 million had been budgeted by government and industry to eradicate the mite after last year's detection.
However, it could become more costly if the mite becomes established.
"We will potentially see an increase to costs of fresh fruit and vegetables at the shops and that's really hard to imagine, given that we're seeing that already, for that to continue to increase because we just don't have pollination, or pollinators around in the form of European honey bees," Ms Corcoran said.
According to the department's website, the unhindered spread of varroa mites could cost horticulture production up to $1.31 billion over 30 years.
Apples, almonds, macadamias, cherries, avocado, blueberries, cucumbers and mangoes are among the most bee-dependent crops grown in Australia.
In 2000, a New South Wales beekeeper was prosecuted after attempting to smuggle queen bees, concealed in pens, into Australia.
A report by the inspector-general of Biosecurity found there were 80 dogs in the department's detector dog program in 2012, which had fallen to 39 by March 2020.
According to the department, there are currently 46 detector dogs now operating at the Australian border.
