‘Heartbreaking’: Beekeepers count their losses as mite threat spreads to Sydney | Laura_R_Chung angusthomson_
Anna Scobie peers out through the rain-splashed window of her Newcastle home and sees a thriving colony of bees quietly buzzing around her yard, foraging and producing enough honey to feed themselves and supply her beekeeping business.
The hives at Scobie’s home are mite-free, but other sites where she keeps bees have tested positive, and all 90 of her hives sit within the DPI’s eradication zone and will eventually be destroyed. It is a devastating blow for the artisan honey and bee education business which she co-founded almost a decade ago, motivated by a desire to do her bit for the honey bee after seeing how the varroa mite had impacted colonies around the world.
For hives without the mite but still within the 10-kilometre radius, fipronil syrup, an insecticide lethal to bees, is used with the hope that feral swarms living in places like tree hollows and brick walls will also pick up the poison and take it to their hives. “We will all just have to start to use the processes that the rest of the world has done. That may mean we are able to return to beekeeping in this area sooner because everyone else is also living with varroa mite. But if we can eradicate it, we need to try to do that as best we can,” Scobie said.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
The tiny parasite suddenly threatening Australia's $70m bee industryIt was more than 20 years ago, but beekeeper Murray Bush remembers exactly where he was when he first heard varroa mites had been detected in New Zealand.
Read more »
Race to stop spread of deadly mite found in Australian bee hives for first timeAs NSW authorities race to stop the deadly varroa mite from wiping out the country’s European honey bees, Queensland has announced it will shut its borders to bees, hives and related equipment and products.
Read more »
NZ mite lessons for Australia's bee sectorWhile authorities hope they can contain varroa mite, experts say the industry can draw on the experience of other countries where the mite is long-established.
Read more »
The Aussie housing crash is acceleratingAustralian house prices have declined for the second month in a row in June – and the pace of losses is accelerating sharply and spreading to Brisbane and Perth.
Read more »
Bee killer mite found on Central Coast as authorities expand hives to be destroyedThe NSW Department of Primary Industries has established an emergency biosecurity zone around a property in Calga, west of Gosford.
Read more »
Holiday letting has worsened the housing crisisThere are 36,000 empty homes listed on Airbnb in Sydney and Melbourne alone, according to activists.
Read more »