TRANSCRIPT
It's a beekeeper's worst nightmare.
The varroa destructor mite is only one millimetre long, but it holds the power to destroy bee colonies.
Varroa was first detected in Australia in 2022 - something that was dreaded, but anticipated, with the mite already present in every other inhabited continent.
Cormac Farrell is a beekeeper in Canberra, and runs the beehives at Parliament House.
He says it wasn't a surprise when Varroa made it to Australia.
"So my initial reaction was sort of resigned acceptance because I was part of the biosecurity teams previously that were searching for the might and we were expecting to have an incursion."
Director of Research and Innovation Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Jessica May, says it weakens hives.
"It's a little mite that attaches to the bees and it can carry lots of different diseases. It doesn't kill them, it sort of attaches to them and can kind of take over in the hive. It weakens them so it can weaken their wings, but it can also carry lots of other diseases that can infect the bees and actually weaken the hive so their honey production can go down, the health of the bees can go down and the number of the bees can go down."
The honey industry is worth $14 billion each year in Australia, with European honey bees also playing an integral role in pollinating many agricultural crops.
The presence of the mite puts both of those at risk.
Biosecurity Officer with the A-C-T Government, Matt Cools, says it impacts hobbyists too.
"So the biggest impact is obviously industry and pollination events, but it affects backyard beekeepers as well which we have a lot of in the A-C-T. They're very passionate about their bees, so it can have a big impact on them as well if they found varroa in their hives."
When varroa was first detected in Australia, the government sought to eradicate the parasite.
That included heavily restricting movement of bees and exterminating infected hives.
Mr Farrell says when the mite was detected, recreational beekeepers sprung to action.
"Recreational beekeepers like myself, we all had a part to play. We had to test our hives make sure we knew where the varroa mite was spreading, to make sure that we could give that information through to the authorities to help control the outbreak. It was our best chance of stopping it. Unfortunately, it didn't work, which is a real shame, and now we're moving into that management phase, where we are learning how to live with the mite. Luckily we have beekeepers all over the world that do do this and we're getting a lot of great advice from them."
Now, it's accepted that the mite is here to stay.
Ms May says they are now looking to manage the parasite.
"We've moved to a management approach. It's currently in New South Wales and this is all about trying to slow the spread of Varroa. So eradication, killing the bees, isn't something that we want to keep doing. So it's here, it's established, so everyone voted to move to a national management plan and we're working towards that. This project is about trying to find a way to slow that spread and giving the power back to beekeepers."
Now, there's a program that will help monitor the mite.
190 hives will be included in the program - 30 in the A-C-T which is currently free of varroa mite, 150 in commercial hives in the infected area of New South Wales, and 10 at community beehives at New South Wales schools.
A piece of tech, called BeeRight, will be placed into hives to monitor their health.
Ms May says it's a non-invasive piece of technology.
"The BeeRight device has a lot of intricate sensors in it. So you can just fit it into the hive and it can sense all of the different health, everything that's going on in there. Whether your bees are healthy or not, whether the queen is healthy or not. Bees have a different signature when they're unhealthy and it can pick that up."
Varroa mite isn't present in the A-C-T.
Ms May says the territory's hives will help train the technology.
"In order to train the technology, they need access to hives that are infected with Varroa and access to hives that aren't infected with Varroa. So we know that there isn't Varroa in A-C-T and if there was to be found verow In this test, obviously the A-C-T government would step in at that point. But yeah, it's definitely just a control so we have able to compare the data of an infected hive versus a non-infected hive."
The traditional way to test for varroa mite includes killing bees.
With the BeeRight sensor, no bees need to be killed.
Instead, the sensor picks up unusual activity, and sends a notification to the users phone.
Ms May says the pilot program seeks to confirm the effectiveness of the technology.
"We are giving all the data to the CSIRO who are then going to do a report to say can the BeeRight device have the probability to detect varroa mite in Australia. It will also confirm that A-C-T is currently free of varroa mite. This is just the beginning, the next stage would be to test all the different devices and technologies that are on the market, and then we can compare all of them and do a scientific report on what's available and out there for beekeepers to use to manage the spread of varroa mite."
Mr Farrell says he's excited for what these sensors can offer.
"So we have actually tested in the past the at the apiary here a few in hive sensors, they never quite made it to full production. So the fact that there's now a whole range of sensors coming on stream is really exciting and interesting and we're looking forward to seeing what comes of the trials."
Researcher at the National e-D-N-A Reference Centre at the University of Canberra, Alejandro Trujillo Gonzalez [[ally-HAND-ro troh-hill-ee-oh gon-za-lez]] says a non invasive swab will be used to confirm if the parasite has been present in the hives.
"We will be testing for E-D-N-A and E-R-N-A in the hives as a confirmatory measure for varroa mites. And it is a method that we have devised that looks for traces of DNA that the animals leave behind in the hives and it's extremely sensitive so we can confirm if the varroa mite has been in the hive or is presently in the hive."
Dr Gonzalez says this tech will help beekeepers cope with the parasite present.
"If it does indeed become established across the states, it's very much learn to live with a parasite is not going to go away. And is this kind of management tools that allows you to survive and to get more out of your livelihoods and the welfare that you can have in these kind of a scenario. That is, of course the worst case scenario as it is currently just, of course in New South Wales."
