Governments warned of Varroa impacts three years ago in PhD research simulation

The cautionary research has proven spot-on with the National Management Group moving the current Varroa mite response from eradication to management in September.

In 2020, Dr Robert Owen, who completed his PhD on Varroa, explored what would happen if the bee pest got a foothold in Australia.

"In my PhD research... we modelled the probability that a single mite breaking quarantine and becoming established in Melbourne, would be detected before the mite population grew and the incursion became out of control," Dr Owen said.

"Our research showed that it would be almost impossible to detect the incursion before it became out of control.

"This has been the experience in NSW."

Dr Owen has been a beekeeper for more than 20 years.

He said his research results were published both in an academic journal as well as in the Australasian Beekeeper magazine and that NSW DPI and Department of Agriculture officials would have read those articles.

"Also, my PhD oration, which was attended by over 50 experts, many from federal, NSW, and Victorian government departments, attended and had the opportunity to listen and ask questions while I discussed our findings," he said.

But Dr Owen is not critical of the NSW government's response to the Varroa mite situation.

"The NSW Department of Primary Industries, as well as beekeepers, handled the incursion well and did everything they could to eradicate the mite," Dr Owen said.

"The difficulty they faced was that once the mite was established in the feral bee population, feral bees live in the wild and not in hives managed by beekeepers, it was virtually impossible to eradicate feral varroa mites from the bee population."

THE 2022 Newcastle incursion was not the first time Varroa had entered Australia, according to Dr Owen.

"Fortunately, quarantine officials detected and eradicated the mite in all previous incursions, which protected the honey and pollination industries over several years," he said.

Within the conclusions of his 2020 research, Dr Owen recommended the development of a Varroa resistant queen breeding industry.

He said the use of miticides resulted in numerous poor health outcomes for all members of the colony.

"For Australia to gain the most from a breeding program, it needs to be started before Varroa becomes endemic, not afterwards," he wrote at the time.

"Work needs to go in to developing Varroa resistant bees. Fortunately, Australia started this work a few years ago, based on the Varroa Sensitive Higienic, VSH, strain of bees developed in the US and Europe," Dr Owen said.

"Developing disease resistant bees, however, is difficult and expensive, but the future of the beekeeping industry depends on it."

OTHER academics have weighed into the decision to give up on eradicating Varroa mite.

Flinders University adjunct lecturer and native bee researcher, Dr James Dorey, said it was quite a shock the government had given up its attempts to eradicate Varroa mite.

"The impacts of this decision will be felt for decades to come in how beekeepers manage their hives and how farmers pollinate their crops," Dr Dorey said.

"In particular, farmers may not be able to rely on passive pollination from feral honeybees any longer."

The government dedicated $132 million to Varroa control. If they invested even a small fraction of that into native bee research and conservation, we would be in a much better position to adapt to this crisis."

Southern Cross University lecturer and project leader at Bees for Sustainable Livelihoods, Dr Cooper Schouten, said it was known that Varroa will progressively kill around 95 per cent of Australia's feral bees within about three years.

"Therefore more bee colonies per hectare may be needed to effectively pollinate some crops," Dr Schouten said.

"Cumulatively, increased costs of production, a decrease in the numbers of beekeepers and fewer feral bees will likely result in higher demand for bee hives to service 35 pollination dependant industries across the country, and as seen in NZ, price per hive rentals may increase by 30-100pc within five years."

Macquarie University senior research scientist Dr Mary Whitehouse said attempting to eradicate this pest was the right initial response because of the cost and damage Varroa mite could cause to the industry going forward.

"Containment and management is now the ideal response," Dr Whitehouse said.

"Using miticides to contain the mites is a good response, but varroa is very effective at developing resistance to miticides.

"Going forward we will need a multi-pronged approach, which includes miticides, but also a number of other methods."

DESPITE the outbreak, Dr Owen is optimistic for the future of Australian honey production and pollination.

"Varroa is not the end of beekeeping in Australia. Overseas experience shows that the mite can be managed although there will be significant disruption to the industry, as well as steep learning curve, while beekeepers learn how to manage the mite," he said.

"In Australia, annual colony deaths over recent years, without Varroa, have been between about 8pc and 10pc annually.

"Overseas experience tells us that colony deaths may rise to between 20pc and 40pc annually, a large increase.

"Many of these deaths will not be directly caused by Varroa, but by the inappropriate application of insecticides into hives to kill Varroa, insecticides that also harm the bees.

"There is no evidence that Einstein said 'if the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live'.

"The statement itself is incorrect and is a gross exaggeration; there is no doubt however that without bees, the number of foods we eat will be severely restricted, and our meals less appealing."

Dr Owen's latest book, Honey Bee Pests and Diseases - A complete guide to prevention and management , has been released through Exisle Publishing and is available for $69.99.

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