Small hive beetle decimates bee populations on mid north coast before spring

Australia Broadcast Center

20 hours ago

Despite the cooler weather, Chris Tejcek's small-scale permaculture farm is usually buzzing with bees throughout winter.
But this year, he has struggled to find even one at his property at Beechwood, on the New South Wales mid north coast.
"We're in a quieter period … but the way that our property is set up, we've got a lot of fruit trees and Australian natives, most of which are still in full bloom … we've normally got bees everywhere," he said.
All five of Mr Tejcek's hives were abandoned after they were infested with small hive beetle, an introduced insect that feeds on pollen, honey and dead bees, leaving behind a slimy residue that drives out bees.
In July, he burnt the infested frames to help prevent the beetle from spreading further.
"That's a really hard thing to do, to just stand there when you've [put] an incredible amount of work in establishing and building colonies," he said.
Small hive beetle has been in Australia since 2002, but Mr Tejcek said this year was the worst he had seen.
The situation on Mr Tejcek's property has been mirrored across the NSW mid north coast, where the combination of varroa mite and repeated floods has left hives vulnerable.
Hastings Valley Amateur Beekeepers Association biosecurity officer Leon Carle said the conditions had created a "perfect storm".
"The bees usually manage [the beetles] and lock them up in what we call beetle jails … they force the beetles in there," Mr Carle said.
"But with the varroa, it weakens them … so the beetle gets out [and] the bees either die with it or they abscond."
Of 22 club members surveyed, 73 per cent of their combined 150 hives had been lost this year, to floods, varroa mite or small hive beetle.
Technical specialist for honey bees at the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development Elizabeth Frost said beekeepers north of the NSW Central Coast were reporting unseasonably high numbers of small hive beetle.
"We think that … elevated numbers are a result of beetles being able to reproduce in these hives that are dying in feral locations and also potentially neglected hives or any hives that have died in a flooding event," she said.
Ms Frost was concerned small hive beetle populations could explode further as the weather warmed up, with one brood frame able to yield about 6,000 larvae.
"Bee reproduction increases, all manner of insect and arthropod reproduction increases so beetles, varroa, we have to keep all these things in mind … as the season warms up."
She said there were steps beekeepers could take to protect their hives.
"Having really strong, healthy bee colonies, having young and productive queens, fixing up any colonies that the queen dies in and keeping a tight colony [will help]," she said.
"Worst comes to worst, there are mechanical and chemical treatment methods … that work really well at killing small hive beetle."
Ms Frost was confident increased beetle numbers could be mitigated if beekeepers across Australia remained diligent with varroa mite treatments, with high levels of varroa found in areas reporting major losses from small hive beetle.
However, Mr Carle said varroa mite infestations in feral hives complicated treatment options, making it hard to maintain strong hives.
"You can treat for varroa and have very low numbers but within two weeks you've got extraordinary numbers of varroa again," he said.
"Simply because they've been out robbing out the hives in the bush … so all the varroa there waiting, jump on the bees [and] come back to your hive."