In response to the Varroa mite detection, Biosecurity Officers are on the ground completing quarantine and surveillance within a 10 km radius of the Townsville port. One of the surveillance methods includes setting feeding stations to attract any foraging bees. If you know of feral bee hives in the Townsville area, or see Asian honey bees or suspect your bees have been affected, call the Biosecurity Queensland on 13 25 23. Information about bee biosecurity, hive care, and photos that will help you identify varroa mite, are available at www.beeaware.org.au North Queensland apiarists are worried the spread of varroa mite would devastate hives and interrupt honey supply... So, if the mite does get a foothold in the Burdekin, this opportunity for a lot of beekeepers will be lost and it will cause a loss of honey production in this country as beekeepers have to wait further toward summer to get fresh queen bees. People in the area are being urged to keep an eye out for bee swarms or feral bee hives and report them on 13 25 23. The issue is the increased restrictions would pose for the region's beekeepers and the $80 million fruit and vegetable industry, which relies heavily on pollination services. You've got millions upon millions of dollars of cropping that's planted and being pollinated. You can't have the result without the bees and so, you've got to have a look at how you map out the quarantine areas. It could become a very big and difficult situation...We need to protect and save our bees! Your will have to go to the save the bees Australia page to share this post. Corporations Like Woolworths and Capilano are lobbying Facebook to stop updates on this petition from being shared. On the left is the Asian bee that may have entered Australia through the ports and has been found recently hosting the varroa mite. They are smaller than the honeybee. https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1745361692411728&id=1485185251762708&substory_index=0