Honey bee hives at a national research hub are destroyed following the nearby detection of varroa mite, but nearly 50 high value queen bees are saved and rehomed.
abc.net.au/news/varroa-mite-detection-near-research-hives-colonies-euthanased/101457318Researchers have been forced to euthanase 250 of their breeding and production bee colonies after a varroa mite incursion near a facility in NSW's Hunter region.The destruction of research colonies is considered a setback for apiarists nationwideVarroa mite,, has been detected at Butterwick, less than 10 kilometres from Tocal Agricultural College.
"Unfortunately, Tocal has just fallen into the red zone and those hives are no different to any other beekeeper hives," he said.Plan Bee queens saved Permits to conserve limited numbers of high value queen genetics were also available for commercial queen breeders within varroa mite eradication zones.Mr Le Feuvre said the Plan Bee program was one of the most significant research projects for the industry.