There have been new detections of the deadly varroa mite in beehives at two locations on the NSW Mid North Coast, linked to the illegal movement of beehives.
The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) said both detection sites, at Taree and nearby Wherrol Flat, were linked to known properties in current eradication zones in the Hunter region.
"These detections have resulted from careful tracing and surveillance of hives in the declared eradication zones," NSW DPI chief plant protection officer Satendra Kumar said.
"Interviews with beekeepers in the restricted zones near Millfield and Wyong revealed the movement of hives from those sites into the Taree area.
"NSW DPI is investigating the circumstances surrounding the movement of hives to both sites ... penalties for illegally moving hives can be up to $1.1 million or imprisonment for three years for individuals."
Testing at the two sites at Taree and Wherrol Flat confirmed the presence of varroa mite in a small number of hives that were moved into the region in December.
Urgent tracing has ruled out further movement of hives off the Taree site and tracing is underway in relation to the Wherrol Flat site.
Tracing has also identified four movements of beehives from the surrounding areas since December to other locations in the state.
The DPI said they were considered low-risk given the distance of those hives from the two infected sites.
Beekeepers to be contacted
Individual biosecurity directions will now be issued to prevent the further movement of beehives in those four cases as a precaution until testing can confirm they were free of varroa mite.
"While this is the first detection outside of a restricted zone for some time, the clear link between the point of origin and the Taree sites gives us confidence that our surveillance approach continues to be effective," Dr Kumar said.
The DPI's varroa mite response coordinator, Chris Anderson, said emergency management zones had been declared around the new detection areas.
He urged beekeepers to report any hives they had in the Taree zones, and any hives they had moved through those areas since December.
"We have declared the red 10-kilometre eradication zone and purple surveillance zone around each detection," Mr Anderson said.
"We have been contacting beekeepers located in these zones.
"We will then commence the eradication process within the red 10km zones and be contacting beekeepers to talk them through what that means for them and how they can apply for reimbursement costs."
'We didn't need this'
NSW Apiarists' Association president Steve Fuller said it was a setback for the industry.
"This is the last thing we wanted to see, it's put a spanner in the works in a big way. We didn't need this," he said.
"We have been doing so well, and there's been so much work and effort put into it [eradicating varroa mite], it's really sad to see something like this happen."
Mr Fuller said beekeepers needed to check the latest DPI requirements.
"Don't just go on hearsay, people need to make sure they are complying with what's going on and check what zones [they] are in before they move bees," he said.
The varroa destructor mite was first discovered at the Port of Newcastle in June last year, and a total of 118 premises have been infected since.
