Beekeepers are being reminded to report and treat notifiable diseases after a large scale commercial western Victoria apiarist was found guilty of failure to manage American foulbrood (AFB) in hives.
Agriculture Victoria prosecuted apiarist Sharon Oakley in Horsham Magistrates Court on Monday 4 August on six charges under the Livestock Disease Control Act 1994 & Livestock Disease Control Regulations 2017. The apiarist operation was heavily focused on pollination contracts and hives were regularly moved between South Australia and Victoria.
The charges included a failure to notify Agriculture Victoria of the presence or suspicion of disease, failure to take action to control diseased hives, and exposing hives infected with disease, allowing bees access to the hives which had not been disinfected.
Agriculture Victoria officers served isolation and destruction orders and provided education on good biosecurity practices dating back to March 2022. On one visit in 2023, inspection of hives revealed that 56 percent of the 345 hives present were found to be infected with AFB.
After failing to follow Agriculture Victoria's direction to destroy infected hives and hiveware, Agriculture Victoria disposed of the materials to manage the biosecurity risk to the industry.
The court found in favour of Agriculture Victoria, ordering the defendant to be of good behaviour for 12 months and pay a $500 fine.
Apiary Biosecurity Manager Nikki Jones said the case should serve as a reminder of the importance of responsible beekeeping.
"American Foulbrood is an endemic, highly contagious, notifiable disease within Victoria that results in the death of the hive," Ms Jones said.
"There is no treatment for AFB. As the disease weakens the hive, it becomes susceptible to robbing by other colonies resulting in the rapid spread of the disease within apiaries and to surrounding apiaries. Therefore, the early detection and management of the disease is vital to reduce the risk of spread."
When purchasing used equipment beekeepers need to be aware of the risk of AFB infected equipment. To ensure the equipment is safe to be used in an apiary it must be irradiated.
