A new Varroa mite detection at a property near Cessnock has dealt a blow for NSW bees and beekeepers.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries on Thursday said the detection by field officers meant expanding the current red zone, in which more bees must be culled, announcing a new biosecurity order to that effect.

Experienced beekeepers now believe Varroa is likely to have been in NSW for more than two years and arrived on the back of smuggled bees rather than stowaway on a ship. As varroa is very hard to detect in a hive the only way it can be contained is to stop migratory beekeeping from risk areas. 

Over 14000 managed colonies have already been destroyed and a massive Fipronil poisoning program is killing millions more and is likely to effect Indigenous bee populations .

The new detection brings to 103 the total number of infested premises since Varroa mite was first identified in June, during routine surveillance at the Port of Newcastle.

“The NSW government should keep in mind that there has never been a successful war waged against Varroa mites and that it is well within the rights of the people of NSW to question the unnecessary endangerment of native bee populations in the pursuit of an unattainable Varroa Zero goal.

If the DPI is determined to continue down this path, it must do better when it comes to looking after beekeepers who have had their livelihoods ripped away for an extended period of time through no fault of their own.

Someone is responsible for the arrival of the Varroa mites, but the government is responsible for looking after the Australian beekeepers ruined by biosecurity failures.”

An alternative approach without the killing millions of bees and beekeepers livelihoods would be to create research zones where there would be no beehives allowed to be moved out of infected zones and infected hives treated for Varroa. 

https://www.theepochtimes.com/not-the-bees-varroa-mite-madness_4880837.html