Varroa mite detected in Australia!
Last Wednesday June 22, 2022.
We received notice that a detection of Varroa destructor mite had been made in the Port of Newcastle, and a 50 kilometre exclusion zone was put in place immediately.
Since then, Varroa mite has been detected at other locations in NSW and it may be present in others, so the exclusion zone now includes all of NSW, which means that all beekeepers in NSW cannot move their hives, honeybees or equipment. Police have the authority to stop and fine beekeepers who try to move hives anywhere in NSW. Penalties are extremely high.
The GCRB will be changing the topic of our July 16, 2022 meeting to talk to members about Varroa and to conduct sugar shake tests on all five hives in the club apiary.
If you want to find out more about Varroa go to the Training and Resources Hub at this link: Varroa Mite
On the page there are 44 training resources (videos, fact sheets etc) about Varroa.
