A BEEKEEPING supplier in Cardiff is part of the Hunter's well-established apiarist industry impacted by last week's mite detection.
Peter King has owned Pender Beekeeping Supplies since 2002 and has kept bees as a hobby since the 1970s.
The business started in Maitland as Pender Bros in 1892. By the 1970s it was "largest factory in the southern hemisphere" for beekeeping supplies, at which point it was purchased by the workers and became Pender Beekeeping.
Following another purchase around 1989 and a fire which destroyed the factory in 1998 the business scaled down and was purchased by Mr King four years later.
While they still manufacture limited stock on site, the business mostly relies on the import of beekeeping supplies which they sell across Australia.
"We sell everything here bar the bees themselves," Mr King said. "We are lucky in a way that we send gear out all over Australia. But the varroa will impact us."
Current supply chain issues were putting pressure on Mr King's business prior to the varroa mite's arrival in the Port of Newcastle, with some costs increasing by almost 300 per cent.
"Two years ago you were paying about $4500 for a shipping container to get here. Now it's up around $17,500."
The COVID-19 pandemic saw a small rise in sales for Pender, which Mr King puts down to more people being stuck at home. However, he is concerned what will happen now the mites have been detected.
He estimates there are more than 500 beekeepers in the Newcastle area, "at least" half come through his store.
"No one really knows how bad it will get at this stage. If we aren't allowed bees back in Newcastle for months or years I'm not sure what this will do for business."
Before he purchased the business, Mr King owned around 70 hives. He now has six hives between his house and his 84-year-old father's.
All of Mr King's hives are in the 10km zone, outlined in the NSW government's emergency order on Sunday, and are to be destroyed.
"I've done it as a hobby since around 1978. I will miss it," he said. "There is an emotional connection. Sometimes it's therapeutic to go down into the backyard and watch them."
Mr King said the destruction order's impact will be widespread in Newcastle. He estimates there to be six or seven beekeepers just on his street in Garden Suburb.
Tuesday morning Mr King tested his hives and found them to be free of the mites.
The 60-year-old said if keepers aren't allowed to have bees in Newcastle for an extended period, he may be facing an early retirement.
Agriculture Minister Dugald Sanders said on Tuesday night that the mite had spread to Bulahdelah and Seaham, 100km north of Newcastle, forcing a second biosecurity zone to be established.
"This means 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," he 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."
