Narrabri Varroa mite detection leaves beekeepers concerned ahead of almond pollination season

The devastating Narrabri discovery has left local beekeepers in limbo about how business will keep buzzing.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries confirmed the new case in Narrabri on Monday which has been linked to the outbreak in Newcastle.

With bees set to be on the move for almond pollination in August, Wall's Honey Co. owner Justin Wall said he was worried the restriction on bee movement would be extended due to the new detection.

"It feels like we're back in COVID at the moment, it's really the same sort of situation we were in then," he said.

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"We're having to plan for the best and the worst case scenario."

After the detection in Narrabri, more than 2000 hives have been inspected around Tamworth, Moree, Inverell and Kempsey but no mites were found.

Mr Wall said with almond pollination up in the air it was also unlikely he would be able to move any bees before August for honey production.

"If we can't go out and put boxes on hives we won't be producing any honey over the next month so there will be a small loss of income from low honey production."

But the biggest sting will be felt if the bee lockdown persists into August.

"Not going to almond pollination this year will have quite a large financial impact, it's a large percentage of our annual income," Mr Wall said.

"If we can't go to almonds there are going to be a lot of beekeepers who are going to have a really rough start to the year.

"It's going to be a financially trying time."

Without a clear indication of when restrictions on bee movement will ease, Mr Wall said all his effort was being used for winter maintenance in preparation for spring.

"Hopefully if the DPI should eradicate this pest and things go back to normal later in the year we will be ready to hit the ground running," he said.

Despite concerns over the outbreak reaching the New England region, Mr Wall said it was comforting to know the departments tracing was working.

"At the moment the best we can do is support the DPI in reporting any bee movements that we see," he said.

"It's very important that anyone with a single hive registers it with the DPI.

"If there is a spread up here in the future and they need to do surveillance activities we need to know every single bee keeper in the region is registered."

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