IPSWICH and Lockyer Valley commercial beekeepers need urgent assistance to survive the devastating spread of the destructive varroa mite.
The embattled local beekeeping industry is facing a dangerous new biosecurity threat after the detection of two Asian honey bee colonies in south-western Brisbane last week.
Ipswich beekeeper Duane Blake, from Honey and Hive, said the situation had deteriorated dramatically.
“Between September and January, I never lost a single hive,” he said
“Since the middle of January, everything changed.”
In less than six months, he has lost 85 colonies.
Bee All Natural owner Jason Roebig said Queensland beekeepers had been hit hardest since the beginning of the year, and his Flagstone operation was suffering unsustainable losses.
“We’ve been losing hives hand over fist ever since,” he said.
“We found the mites in January and started dealing with them, but by March we just got absolutely smashed.”
He has now lost about 800 hives, but said that compared with other Ipswich and Lockyer keepers losing thousands upon thousands, his losses were minor.
“We have to do whatever we can now because every day we’re losing more colonies,” he said.
The growing crisis threatens more than honey production, with honey bees contributing an estimated $4.6 billion to Australian agriculture every year through pollination.
Mr Blake said the rapid losses were being fuelled by “mite bombs”, where collapsing colonies released thousands of mites that latched onto foraging bees before invading healthy hives.
He said Australian beekeepers were running out of effective treatment options as varroa populations developed resistance.
“Four of the eight treatment options available to us were basically taken out straight away,” he said.
Mr Blake said the industry had been preparing for the mite’s arrival for years, but the official response had failed to keep pace.
“It was never an if. It was always a when,” he said.
“But we never had a proper plan. Everything has been done on the fly. The authorities have always been two steps behind.”
His immediate priority is simply ensuring enough colonies survive winter to rebuild in spring.
“If I can keep even one or two alive, then at least I’ve got something to breed from when spring comes,” he said.
Mr Roebig said the finan-cial costs were adding up.
“It is costing us around $8000 every month just to keep our colonies alive.
“At the same time, there’s virtually no honey production because the bees are under so much stress from repeated treatments.
“It’s like trying to hold back the tide with a fork.”
Rather than compensation, Mr Roebig said the industry needed urgent assistance to subsidise treatment costs before more businesses failed.
“We’re not asking governments to write us a blank cheque,” he said.
“No one’s seeing the perfect storm that’s building.”
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