Apis cerana and Varroa jacobsoni in Townsville - No.6

I would advise that on Friday 5 August, 2016 a swarm of around 1,000 Asian bees was found at
Hyde Park in Townsville. This is about halfway between 1IP and 2IP. It was reported by a
member of the public.

Subsequent examination has found no Varroa jacobsoni on the bees so because V. jacobsoni is the Emergency Plant Pest, this new site is not an Infected Premises but is classed as a Premise of Relevance and will be 3POR.

As part of the surveillance the Birdlife Townsville group are collecting the regurgitated pellets from under rainbow bee-eater (Merops ornatus) roosts. The rainbow bee-eaters, as the name suggests, eat bees. When they come back to roost in a tree at night they regurgitate a hard pellet which contains parts that cannot be digested. The wings of bees are in this pellet and the wings of Apis cerana and A. mellifera can be distinguished by examining the veins in the wing. To date no cerana wings have been found. These roosts are about 3 kilometres from 3POR and would indicate that the number of cerana nests are low which is a good sign.

Surveillance around 3POR has found foraging cerana within 300 metres. Feeding stations will be
set up and bee lining commenced to find this nest.

Trevor Weatherhead
Executive Director
9 August, 2016

Update: varroa mites found in Annandale Asian honey bee hive

Laboratory examinations of an Asian honey bee hive found at Annandale [QLD] this week have confirmed the presence of varroa mites.

Biosecurity Queensland’s Dr Ashley Bunce, Director, Varroa  Mite Response said initial examinations found no mites on the bees, but a  single mite had today been identified within the comb taken from the hive.

“The hive was  in a residential yard about nine kilometres from where the previous hive was  found at the Port of Townsville,” he said.

“As a result  of this confirmation, we are now increasing our surveillance activities in and  around the Annandale area.

“By the end  of this week, we expect that laboratory testing will confirm whether there are  any more mites and if the Asian honey bees found at Annandale are related to  the original hive found at the Port of Townsville.

“We continue  to urge local residents to check their yards and let us know if they see any  bee activity.”  

Dr Bunce said  the current varroa mite response was initiated after a feral Asian honey bee  hive was found last month at the Port of Townsville.

“Those bees  were carrying a small number of varroa mites which present a real threat to the  honey bee industry and plant industries that rely on bees for pollination,” he  said.

“While these  mites are not the more serious Varroa destructor, we are taking this  incident very seriously and putting every effort into ensuring they are  eradicated.

“There are  currently restrictions on the movement of bees, bee hives, bee products  (excluding honey), and used bee keeping equipment from the Townsville area to  prevent any possible spread of the mite.”

If you know  of feral bee hives in the Townsville area, or see Asian honey bees or suspect  your bees have been affected, call the Biosecurity Queensland on 13 25 23.

Information about bee  biosecurity, hive care, and photos that will help you identify varroa mite, are  available at www.beeaware.org.au  

For  information on Asian honey bees visit www.daf.qld.gov.au

Follow Biosecurity Queensland on Facebook and  Twitter (@BiosecurityQld).

Media contact: Mark Hodder, 3087 8598

Apis cerana and Varroa jacobsoni in Townsville - No.4

An update has been received to say that a varroa mite was found in the comb of the Asian bee nest at Annandale. This now becomes IP2.

This find is not surprising.

Surveillance is now being carried out in the Annandale area around where this nest was found.

Trevor Weatherhead
Executive Director, Australian Honey Bee Industry Council
20 July, 2016