The almond industry is calling for state governments to drop border restrictions on beehives from New South Wales for pollination season, but apiarists are worried the risk of varroa mite is too high.
Since varroa mite was first detected at the Port of Newcastle in June, the deadly parasite has been found at 137 premises, with new outbreaks discovered last week in the Hunter, Central Coast and Mid North regions.
In response, South Australia, Queensland, and Victoria have banned the entry of bees, hives and products — including honey — from New South Wales.
Almond industry executive officer Tim Jackson said the ban may have contributed to a decline in the predicted volume of almonds able to be harvested this year.
"Everyone's putting it down to two key factors: a very poor pollination season due to the weather; and the availability [of beehives] in some areas," he said.
Mr Jackson said beehives from New South Wales were needed to avoid shortages in Victoria and South Australia this year.
"We're in the lap of the gods in regard to four state governments working together collaboratively to come up with a harmonised plan around the movements," he said.
Mr Jackson said the industry would have a clearer picture of how many beehives were needed once a project for spatially mapping almond orchards was completed.
Pollination planning
Pollination coordinator Trevor Monson has started work to find 120,000 beehives for his clients with almond orchards in northern Victoria and southern New South Wales in August.
He said he was confident he can secure that number.
"I have been talking to Agriculture Victoria. They're fairly confident that bees within the blue zone in New South Wales, which is away from where they are finding the varroa mite, will be allowed to cross the border for almond pollination," he said.
"I personally believe they have it contained. I'm not confident they're going to eradicate it because of the amount that they're still finding in that zone."
Mr Monson said there were some scenarios that made him feel uneasy.
"Varroa mite [could] sneak further south into the Sydney basin, that would mean tens of thousands of hives in backyards and trees [would be affected]," he said.
"If the varroa mite moves north into Queensland, then we may not be allowed to have Queensland bees come into Victoria like we did last year, which means another 20,000 hives that are not available."
Plan bee
South Australian Apiarists Association (SAAA) chair Leigh Duffield said he would prefer the demand for beehives be met by honey producers within the state, to reduce the risk of varroa mite.
"It's a huge threat to food security," he said.
"If it got in, then one third of commercial beekeepers would go out of businesses, and two thirds of the amateurs would disappear, so we wouldn't have enough bees to do pollination anyway.
"That's the international record."
Mr Duffield said state government would need to make a decision as soon as possible to allow time to meet biosecurity requirements and breed enough bees for pollination.
"It is an area that we need to explore very quickly with the almond board on their requirements and then see if we can work to get it organised," he said.
A spokesperson for the South Australian Department of Primary Industries said more details on current varroa mite control measures in New South Wales were needed before considering any changes to border restrictions.
"Keeping both the bee industry and pollination-dependent industries safe is of utmost importance," the spokesperson said in a statement.
