After two years spent living through a pandemic, terms like lockdowns, tracing and circuit breakers are familiar to Australians.
But this time they are being used to describe the response to varroa mite, a parasite that is threatening the Australian bee industry after it was found at the Port of Newcastle and a nearby commercial beekeeper last week.
What is varroa mite?
Varroa mites are tiny red-brown external parasites of honey bees.
They mainly feed and reproduce on honey bee larvae and pupae (bees transitioning between larvae and adults), leading to malformations.
They also transmit numerous viruses.
Australia was the last continent to be free of the parasite, with previous detections in Queensland and Victoria eradicated.
But Danny Le Feuvre from the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council said the mites detected in Queensland were a less-threatening species usually associated with Asian honey bees.
The species found in Newcastle, the Varroa destructor, is attracted to European honey bees, which underpin the Australian commercial bee industry.
He said Varroa destructor posed no threat to native Australian honey bees.
Where has it been found?
Last Wednesday varroa mite was found in two of the six hives used to monitor biosecurity at the Port of Newcastle during a routine inspection.
Surveillance hives are set up at ports around Australia as an early-warning system to detect exotic pests.
It is not yet clear where the varroa mite first detected came from,; whether it was from a ship that arrived at the port or if it was already in the country.
Further detections of varroa mite were made over the weekend, in hives within 10 kilometres from the Port of Newcastle.
The NSW Department of Primary Industries was also investigating potentially contaminated hives outside the Newcastle region, including at a property near Trangie in Central West NSW.
The Trangie hives were being investigated because they came from the Newcastle area, but no mites were detected.
What impact could it have?
A widespread varroa mite outbreak would have a devastating effect on Australia's agricultural industry.
Almonds, berries and apples are some of the 35 agricultural industries reliant on bee pollination.
Federal Agricultural Minister Murray Watt said it was estimated a varroa mite outbreak could cost the industry $70 million a year.
“The last thing we want to see is that some sort of barrier to the production of honey, that would obviously have an effect on prices.
"But you know, there's a lot of honey that's exported as well and it would have employment impacts.”
In the US about 30 per cent of commercial hives were lost following the incursion of varroa mite.
In New Zealand 90 per cent of the feral bee colonies disappeared because of the mites not being managed.
However, Mr Le Feurve said following the initial shock to the bee population, there were examples around the world of how beekeepers could live with the mites.
"That's going to add to the cost of production to beekeepers, they're going to have to treat hives and it will be a different way of managing the hives," he said.
NSW Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders said discussions about financial support for beekeepers had already begun.
"I'm not sure on what the figures will be at this point of time, but we'll certainly be working hard with industry leaders to make sure beekeepers ... feel supported," he said.
Stopping the outbreak
A statewide emergency order has been issued to control the movement of bees across NSW and bees within 10 kilometres of the Port of Newcastle are being destroyed.
"So we can get around to where all those other bees are and do some tracing work to ensure we have surveyed and managed all those hives."
Beekeepers have been told to self-assess their hives and report back to the NSW DPI.
The NSW DPI was also going door-to-door in the Newcastle region to identify any backyard or feral hives.
Mr Le Feurve said there were no detections during a campaign in April encouraging beekeepers to monitor their hives for the pest, despite participation being up by about 70 per cent on last year.
What are the chances it will spread?
The short answer is it is too early to tell.
Commercial and feral bee populations move throughout the country on a regular basis and varroa mites can hitch a ride with them, making containing the pest a challenge.
Mr Le Feurve said one silver-lining was the time of year, with the winter season seeing reduced bee movement.
However, the almond and blueberry pollination periods are fast approaching.
It is hoped the current stop movement order will allow the industry to get on top of the situation before these key pollination periods get underway.
