NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI) will allow beekeepers to move beehives out of recently declared surveillance (purple) zones in almond pollination areas to manage biosecurity risks.
NSW DPI Chief Plant Protection Officer Shane Hetherington said the recent identification of four Varroa mite infestations at Euston, Euroley, Nericon and Balranald had triggered the creation of eradication (red) and surveillance (purple) emergency zones.
"We know the infested hives we have identified by tracing movements from the Kempsey region have only been in these almond orchards for a short time and with plenty of floral resources the bees would not have travelled far," Dr Hetherington said.
"That means the risk of them transferring mites to hives outside the red zone to hives in the purple zone is negligible.
"However, the floral resources are rapidly running out as the almond orchards finish the flowering period and bees will begin to rob neighboring hives which creates a significant biosecurity risk.
"The Emergency Order would normally prevent the movement of all surrounding hives out of eradication and surveillance zones as a precaution.
"We've conducted a thorough risk assessment and amended the Emergency Order to allow movement of hives out of the four new surveillance (purple) zones to reduce the chances of bees from those few infested hives mixing with bees from other hives and spreading the mite."
Changes to the Emergency Order introduced today allow beekeepers to move hives out of the four surveillance zones at Euston, Euroley, Nericon and Balranald, provided:
- The beekeeper lodges a movement declaration via Movement of bees (nsw.gov.au) for each load of bees PRIOR to movement
- The hives are moved to a General Emergency (blue) zone site
- Hives are moved directly to the destination site and not moved off that site until approved by NSW DPI
- Beekeepers must carry a copy of the hive movement declaration with them for the duration of the move
- The beekeeper alcohol washes up to 64 hives on arrival and reports the results to NSW DPI
- The beekeeper takes and retains photograph of at least one alcohol wash which is time and date-stamped and shows the approximate location
- Beekeepers should refer to the Emergency Order for full details of movement requirements
These changes do not allow movement of hives out of any other NSW surveillance (purple) or eradication (red) zones. Sites that receive hives from the four purple zones will be monitored by NSW DPI.
