Deadly honey bee parasite detected in Australian beehives
Varroa mites have been detected in beehives throughout the Gippsland region, putting apiarists on alert to monitor their hives for any infestation.
Gippsland Apiarist Association president Stan Glowacki said once a mite got into a beehive, it could build up numbers where it killed off the hive within about six to nine months.
'If you have 400 hives that could be quite a financial hit to your operation,' he said.
'It's going to affect every beekeeper, it does not matter whether they have one hive or 1000 hives.'
4 A deadly parasite that infests beehives and kills honey bees has spread through regional Victoria.
mirkograul – stock.adobe.com
Varroa destructor is a parasite of adult honey bees and broods that weaken and kill honey bee colonies and transmit viruses, according to Victoria Agriculture.
They are a major problem for commercial and hobby beekeepers once they become established.
Varroa mites were first detected in NSW in June 2022.
4 Varroa mites have been detected in beehives throughout the Gippsland region, putting apiarists on alert to monitor their hives for any infestation.
Vera Kuttelvaserova – stock.adobe.com
A national eradication response saw 14,000 hives euthanised before it was determined that it was not feasible to achieve total elimination.
Authorities and beekeepers now manage the pest, which can cost about $40 a year per hive, according to Glowacki.
'It's a little parasitic mite that moves on the bees,' Glowacki said.
'To scale it up to human size, it's the equivalent of having a parasite the size of a dinner plate stuck on your body, sucking out your blood.'
4 Gippsland Apiarist Association president Stan Glowacki said once a mite got into a beehive, it could build up numbers where it killed off the hive within about six to nine months.
íËí³í¾í⬠í§íÆííÅ – stock.adobe.com
He said once a female mite got inside a hive and a brood hatched, it was an exponential threat.
'It's very worrying even for a small backyard beekeeper. Nobody wants to lose their bees,' he said.
'If you don't monitor your hives and manage the mite, you're going to lose your hives.
4 A national eradication response saw 14,000 hives euthanised before it was determined that it was not feasible to achieve total elimination.
BeeApiaries – stock.adobe.com
'Eventually, we're going to get to the stage where the industry is going to know the genetics and have hives that can manage the mite without the use of chemicals.
'But until we get to that stage, people will lose hives and pay for the chemicals to try and keep their hives alive.'
Victoria Agriculture has been contacted for comment.
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New York Post
2 days ago
- New York Post
Deadly honey bee parasite detected in Australian beehives
A deadly parasite that infests beehives and kills honey bees has spread through regional Victoria. Varroa mites have been detected in beehives throughout the Gippsland region, putting apiarists on alert to monitor their hives for any infestation. Gippsland Apiarist Association president Stan Glowacki said once a mite got into a beehive, it could build up numbers where it killed off the hive within about six to nine months. 'If you have 400 hives that could be quite a financial hit to your operation,' he said. 'It's going to affect every beekeeper, it does not matter whether they have one hive or 1000 hives.' 4 A deadly parasite that infests beehives and kills honey bees has spread through regional Victoria. mirkograul – Varroa destructor is a parasite of adult honey bees and broods that weaken and kill honey bee colonies and transmit viruses, according to Victoria Agriculture. They are a major problem for commercial and hobby beekeepers once they become established. Varroa mites were first detected in NSW in June 2022. 4 Varroa mites have been detected in beehives throughout the Gippsland region, putting apiarists on alert to monitor their hives for any infestation. Vera Kuttelvaserova – A national eradication response saw 14,000 hives euthanised before it was determined that it was not feasible to achieve total elimination. Authorities and beekeepers now manage the pest, which can cost about $40 a year per hive, according to Glowacki. 'It's a little parasitic mite that moves on the bees,' Glowacki said. 'To scale it up to human size, it's the equivalent of having a parasite the size of a dinner plate stuck on your body, sucking out your blood.' 4 Gippsland Apiarist Association president Stan Glowacki said once a mite got into a beehive, it could build up numbers where it killed off the hive within about six to nine months. íËí³í¾í⬠í§íÆííÅ – He said once a female mite got inside a hive and a brood hatched, it was an exponential threat. 'It's very worrying even for a small backyard beekeeper. Nobody wants to lose their bees,' he said. 'If you don't monitor your hives and manage the mite, you're going to lose your hives. 4 A national eradication response saw 14,000 hives euthanised before it was determined that it was not feasible to achieve total elimination. BeeApiaries – 'Eventually, we're going to get to the stage where the industry is going to know the genetics and have hives that can manage the mite without the use of chemicals. 'But until we get to that stage, people will lose hives and pay for the chemicals to try and keep their hives alive.' Victoria Agriculture has been contacted for comment.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Yahoo
Virus spreading mite blamed for 60% loss of bee colonies needed to pollinate food crops
A catastrophic loss of bee colonies over the winter has been blamed on a mite that injects a virus into the bees and spreads the deadly pathogen throughout their colonies. Between 60% to 70% of the bees used to pollinate crops, including almonds in California, apples in New York and blueberries and watermelons in Central Florida have been lost, according to Robbie Bell, a beekeeper who runs an apiary at the Honey Bell Bee Co. in Fort Meade. 'We kind of figured it was a virus,' he said of a recent USDA confirmation of the cause. 'This year was a bad year' compared to the usual 30% to 40% casualty rate among the pollinators. The U.S. Agricultural Department issued a news release on June 3 saying its research has linked 'early 2025 honeybee losses to high viral loads and mite resistance.' 'The findings point to alarmingly high levels of viral infections — vectored by Varroa destructor (Varroa) mites with resistant genes to a common treatment — as key drivers of colony collapse,' the USDA said. It turns out the trips across the United States for bees to pollenate the crops can be very hazardous for bees. They encounter agricultural fungicides, pesticides and often drink water from farm ponds laden with runoff from the application of such chemicals. 'That's another layer to the puzzle,' said Bell of several potential factors weakening the pollinators. The USDA echoed such factors in its release. Factors such as pesticide exposure, poor nutrition and environmental conditions may have exacerbated the losses, the USDA said. Bell estimates that about 80% of agricultural crops in the United States are pollenated by bees, as butterflies, bumblebees and other pollinator insects that once occurred naturally have declined in population in the past 10 to 20 years. Regarding almonds, Bell said 100% of the crop is pollinated by bees. The demand for bees to pollinate has Bell's bees booked up years in advance. But smaller beekeepers may have fared much better, according to Jan Betters at Pat's Apiaries, which has some hives in the Wahneta and other areas of Polk County. The Auburndale-based operation takes about 100 hives to an Alturas blueberry farm every year and sells honey locally at farmers markets. 'We are very careful to take out bees to farms that only spray when bees are in the hives,' she said. The practice keeps their bees away from potential environmental hazards but in large scale agricultural setting in miles long groves, such practices are more difficult to coordinate. Their die off rate is about 10% to 20% per year, a loss much less than the rates at commercial beekeepers. According to the USDA, after reports from beekeepers about the die off, a study analyzed samples from six major commercial beekeeping operations affected by the losses. The samples provided 'the most detailed evidence to date of the biological factors behind the widespread die-offs.' 'Collectively, these operations managed nearly 184,000 colonies — roughly 7% of all U.S. hives — and reported losses averaging over 60%, just as bees were being staged for California's almond pollination season," the USDA said. 'The beekeeping and bee health community appreciates the work of the USDA-ARS bee research laboratories. They quickly took samples of lost colonies and now that they've released the analysis, beekeepers can better understand what happened and take action,' said Matt Mulica, senior project director at Keystone Policy Center, which facilitates the Honey Bee Health Coalition. 'We understand more analysis is occurring and we look forward to learning more about the other potential causes of these significant colony losses,' he said in the release. Researchers found high levels of Deformed Wing Virus (DWV-A and DWV-B) and Acute Bee Paralysis Virus in both pooled colony samples and individual bees showing shaking and other signs of morbidity, the USDA said. Experimental inoculation further confirmed these viruses as the likely cause of mortality in collapsing colonies. Crucially, all Varroa mites collected from affected colonies tested positive for a genetic marker linked to resistance to amitraz, the most commonly used miticide in commercial beekeeping, the USDA said. This finding underscores the need for new tools and pest management strategies. 'This is a critical moment for honey bee health,' said Patty Sundberg, president of the American Beekeeping Federation. 'We can't continue relying on a single line of defense against Varroa. These mites are evolving quickly, and our management tools must evolve just as fast. We also need to find treatments for these viruses and we await the release of how pesticide exposure and poor nutrition amplify the impacts from these viruses.' Steven Coy, president of the American Honey Producers Association, added, 'The findings released today are a crucial first step in providing beekeepers actionable information. It highlights the necessity for additional miticides and methods of controlling varroa and the associated viruses. Agricultural Center: Polk County OKs initial contracts for long-sought facility south of Bartow We urge the USDA to provide the results of the impacts of nutritional, chemical and environmental stress as soon as possible. Beekeepers need a complete picture of what happened in order to make sound decisions regarding the health of our colonies.' In 2021, the Honey Bee Health Coalition published "Guide to Varroa Mite Controls for Commercial Beekeeping Operations," which laid out a vision that addresses the risks of amitraz resistance created by off-label use. The continuous use of off-label amitraz, with increasing dosages (as it becomes less effective), is likely to cause amitraz to lose its effectiveness, just as other products like coumaphos and tau-fluvalinate have become largely ineffective for controlling Varroa mites. The Honey Bee Health Coalition continues to support innovation in honey bee health, including research, tool development and education aimed at helping beekeepers and farmers manage evolving threats. The coalition will release an updated version of its "Tools for Varroa Management" guide later this year. The guide is a key resource for beekeepers, providing science-based strategies for monitoring and controlling Varroa populations. According to Noah Wilson-Rich, founder and chief scientific officer at the Urban Bee Lab, for the first time, commercial beehive losses have surpassed those of hobbyist and backyard beekeepers.' The Boston-based lab found that two of every three beehives used for crop pollination have been lost. 'Last year marked the first time the U.S. surpassed the 50% threshold of beehive deaths, and this year is the first in which commercial beehive losses outpaced residential ones. In 2014, the U.S. government set a loss threshold of 15%. 'We have well surpassed that, with losses now exceeding 60%, and a jump of around 10% in just the last year alone,' Wilson-Rich said. In response, beekeepers have been rapidly replacing dead beehives by splitting one beehive into two or more, he said. Yet, these losses only take into account honeybees and ignore the 4,000 other species of native bees in North America, with populations going unmonitored without intervention. His lab confirmed the mite responsible for the commercial bee die offs. Meanwhile, he said, 'My research team and collaborators around the world focus on AI sensors and blockchain technology to cure bees of diseases caused by mites, as well as to recover from pesticide exposure, as a next-generation approach to improving bee health.' This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Mite blamed for 60% loss of bee colonies that pollinate food crops
Associated Press
29-05-2025
- Associated Press
ToBe Launches Smart Beekeeping Breakthrough and Invites Investment to Combat Global Pollination Crisis
05/28/2025, Kefar Sava, Israel // PRODIGY: Feature Story // Avner Einav, VP of Product at ToBe and beekeeper (source: ToBe) Agri-tech innovator ToBe officially introduced HiveMaster, an IoT-based beekeeping device that aims to safeguard honeybee populations and revitalize the global pollination ecosystem. With food systems worldwide under increasing pressure due to collapsing bee colonies, the company's scalable solution presents an opportunity to address the pollination crisis. As ToBe opens its current investment round, it invites investors to join a mission that combines resilience, advanced technology, and planetary stewardship. 'Our world depends on bees more than most realize,' says Eric Joely, CEO of ToBe. 'People might think it's just about honey. But it's about almonds, apples, avocados, and every third bite we take. We developed HiveMaster to give beekeepers the power to protect their colonies without harming the bees, the honey, or the environment. We're opening this investment round to scale a solution that supports global food security and renews an industry under siege.' After stabilizing the technology and making it market-ready, ToBe is currently in Series A fundraising to facilitate rapid, worldwide growth. 'ToBe will be present in at least half of the colonies around the world, turning the hives into smart, tech-enabled hives, and driving the industry into the future. That is the goal, that is the mission. Is it ambitious? Yes, but that's what it will take to solve this problem,' says Avner Einav, VP of Product at ToBe, and a passionate beekeeper. HiveMaster is an in-hive device that brings precision agriculture into the beekeeping world. The system automatically administers finely controlled pulses of anti-Varroa treatment in gas form, reducing the need for manual labor and chemical exposure. If conventional approaches flood hives with pesticides that leave harmful residues in honey and wax, ToBe's device tailors treatment in real-time using integrated sensors, data analytics, and AI protocols. The result is 95% efficacy against the Varroa mite, the parasitic culprit behind the majority of global bee colony collapses. Independent trials conducted in 2024 by the Department of Entomology at an American university confirmed HiveMaster's remarkable performance. Compared to beehive strips, the leading conventional treatment, ToBe's device delivered more than double the efficacy while maintaining consistent results across all hives. Apivar-treated hives showed high variability and potential resistance issues. Meanwhile, HiveMaster's gas-phase delivery ensured even treatment across brood cells and nurse bees. Colonies utilizing HiveMaster experienced no measurable drop in vitality, even after repeated treatments. It showed a 30% increase in honey yield and significant improvements in pollination strength. This performance is thanks to ToBe's design innovations from over five years of dedicated research and development. From its initial concept in 2018, ToBe's team of experts in biology, chemistry, electrical and mechanical engineering, and data science pursued a single goal of developing a device that could replicate the most effective miticide delivery system without the labor intensity and toxicity of existing methods. 'After extensive biological trials and multiple iterations, we finally developed HiveMaster. It's flood-proof, propolis-resistant, and compatible with 95% of global hive frames,' says Avner Einav, VP of Product at ToBe. The plug-and-play unit installs in under a minute, requires no maintenance for a year, and communicates seamlessly with a solar-powered external unit and a beekeeper's smartphone app. This feature enables continuous updates, remote diagnostics, and optimized treatment schedules. The response from industry insiders has been positive. Commercial beekeepers and associations have already begun incorporating HiveMaster into their operations. A beekeeper from the US shares: 'ToBe's solution offers a highly effective and urgently needed alternative. The colonies that were treated with HiveMaster are the best colonies we have.' The chairman of an organization of honey producers echoes the sentiment. He states: 'Many members of our association, who collectively own almost half a million hives, have shown great interest in this technology. This is primarily due to its phenomenal efficacy and the significant reduction in the use of miticides in the hives.' ToBe plans to expand its offerings into a broader smart hive ecosystem. The company is developing advanced features that will support additional pest control, hive performance benchmarking, and yield forecasting. It's also exploring strategic partnerships with large-scale food producers and agri-tech firms to integrate HiveMaster into broader supply chains and pollination management systems. With regulatory approval already secured in Israel and advanced applications underway in key markets, ToBe is preparing for rapid global deployment. Supporting ToBe means helping solve one of the most urgent ecological crises of the time while creating value across the food supply chain. The company welcomes interest from angel investors, venture capital funds, and strategic partners aligned with its mission. There is no offer to sell, no solicitation of an offer to buy, and no recommendation of any security or any other product or service in this article. Moreover, nothing contained in this should be construed as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any investment or security, or to engage in any investment strategy or transaction. It is your responsibility to determine whether any investment, investment strategy, security, or related transaction is appropriate for you based on your investment objectives, financial circumstances, and risk tolerance. Consult your business advisor, attorney, or tax advisor regarding your specific business, legal, or tax situation. Media Contact Name: Avner Einav Email: [email protected] Source published by Submit Press Release >> ToBe Launches Smart Beekeeping Breakthrough and Invites Investment to Combat Global Pollination Crisis
