New Varroa!
The BeeHolder, October 2009
A dangerous mutant gene in a previously harmless honeybee mite in Papua New Guinea has Australian beekeepers fearing for their future. The Asian honeybee mite has undergone a genetic mutation which allows it to infest European honeybees.
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization bee pathologist Denis Anderson tells the Australian Broadcasting Corp. the mite is one of a strain of Varroa mites which had never before been able to breed on the European honeybee, and thus had been no threat to horticulture. Now the mutant mites are running rampant through honeybee hives in Papua New Guinea, wiping out up to half the country’s honey industry. The mutation is believed to have originated from a single female mite.
Anderson says based on experiences in the past, the mites will be also carrying exotic viral diseases. ‘Those viruses are actually what cause the death to the European honey bee colonies,’ he says.
| Why is this important? |
|---|
| Because at the moment there is, officially, no Varroa in Australia, and Australia exports many hundreds of thousands of hives each year to pollinate the American fruit and nut crop. A more virulent varroa in Australia would cause immediate problems for the USA but would also spread worldwide and cause major problems worldwide. |
Australian Agriculture Minister Tony Burke is meeting Papua New Guinea officials in Brisbane and containment of the mite to prevent them from entering Australia will be on the agenda. Burke tells reporters the government recognizes the importance of rigorous quarantine and biosecurity measures to protect Australia's agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries. “In November last year we announced an extra $300,000 over two years to continue the sentinel hive program,” he says. “This is an important surveillance program for pests and disease in Australia's honey bee and pollination industries.”
An Asian honeybee eradication campaign is continuing in Queensland two years after an incursion was found in Cairns. Thus far 28 hives have been destroyed.
From ‘Catch the Buzz’, courtesy Bee Culture magazine
