I bought my bees from the Newcastle area. What should I do?
Anyone who has acquired honeybees (including queen bees, nucleus hives and hives with honeybees) from within 50km of the Port of Newcastle (the red, purple and yellow emergency zones) in the past 12 months is urged to report this to the DPI, to help eradicate the varroa mite from NSW.
Report these honeybees using the DPI’s online reporting form.
Biosecurity (Varroa Mite) Order No. 6 is now in effect. Three additional infected premises have been detected at Tanilba Bay, Salt Ash and Mayfield West. The emergency order has been updated to include the Port Stephens Peninsula within the red 10km eradication zone, where hives will be euthanised.
You must not touch or move your hives unless to feed using an approved internal feeder, or to inspect for mites by one of these approved methods:
All beekeepers within the red, purple and yellow zones MUST notify all hive locations, preferably online by completing the Beekeeper Notifications - Varroa mite online form
What’s happened over the weekend?
The wild weather over the weekend might have kept the bees in their hives, but the varroa response field operation teams have still been hard at work, inspecting hives across the varroa emergency zones.
What are the red dots on the map?
Each red circle on the map denotes a single infected premises (IP). The circles have a radius of 10km, representing the expected natural spread of varroa from a point in a specific timeframe.
Why are there more dots than yesterday?
The field teams conduct inspections around each IP to determine if the mite has been spread to other in the area. As varroa is spread easily between hives in close proximity, we expect to find more IPs near the first, and each one becomes the centre of a new circle. By counting the mites in each hive we can calculate the direction of spread, which in turn helps us work out where to concentrate our surveillance efforts.
Why do the dots overlap?
Mites are spread by bees, and as bees don’t fly far, we know it would take them a long time to get right to the edge of the 10km circle. We expect to plot new circles which have their centre inside an existing red circle, causing them to overlap tightly.
Why do some of the dots not overlap?
A new circle not overlapping an existing is likely to have been caused by humans transporting bees prior to the standstill order being issued. All the separate red circles have been traced back to IPs in the main overlapping group. This is all part of the track and trace investigations being undertaken by the Emergency Response Team.
Sheila Stokes, the ABA’s Industry Liaison Officer continues to work at the Local Control Centre in Maitland, to provide timely and accurate information to our members.
Have a specific query? Contact us on beehelp@beekeepers.asn.au
Support for beekeepers
There are free and confidential support services available to beekeepers during this difficult time.
Accessing small business and mental health and wellbeing support early is encouraged.
Business owners can contact the Rural Financial Counselling Service for advice and support to review their financial situation and assist with future planning. Call Badar Musad on 0439 956 165.
The Rural Financial Counselling Service will support all beekeepers and will connect you with suitable services depending on your situation.
The Rural Financial Counselling Service can assist with assessing eligibility of beekeepers to the Farm Household Allowance.
Business owners are encouraged to speak with their banking institution and/or lenders to discuss their situation and develop a plan together.
The Rural Adversity Mental Health Program is available to support beekeepers who would like to chat about their situation, and they can refer you to other services. Call Matthew Milne on 0437 989 044.
Beekeepers in the Central Coast region can call Lauren Shields, a social worker with the Central Coast Local Health District on 0428 250 610 to discuss mental health and wellbeing.
You can call the NSW Mental Health Line for yourself, or if you are concerned about someone. This line is open 24 hours, 7 days a week on 1800 011 511.
Charitable assistance is available to support households with items such as food and groceries, household items and household bill support. Charities such as Rural Aid will provide support to commercial beekeepers.