Varroa mite hitchhikes a ride to the Central West

It is the first detection in the state's Central West and has been traced to a location in the Sydney Basin at Sackville North.

The mite transfer occurred after a legal movement of hives in April when both the Sackville North and Gumble locations were in a Varroa-free blue zone.

NSW DPI deputy incident controller Dr Shannon Mulholland said the Sackville North site moving from a purple surveillance zone to becoming a red eradication zone on July 4, and good hive movement reporting, helped surveillance officers detect the infestation before it got out of hand.

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"With the detection of Varroa mite at the property at Gumble, we have found only one mite and we are confident we have detected the infestation at a very early stage," she said.

"That it is only one mite and the fact it was a recent legal movement gives us some confidence we can control this spread quickly.

"We are confident we have good containment in the Central West at the moment.

"But, this has resulted in an extension of red eradication zones and purple surveillance zones now centred around that property.

"The property has already been surveyed, with hives euthanised and disposed of this week.

"The infestation has been linked to a legal hive movement in April this year.

"We will be working intensive surveillance in the area over the coming days. We are re-deploying teams from our Hunter/Central Coast zone as we speak so there is a rapid response in the area to help achieve an eradication outcome."

NSW DPI said that through a review of hive movement declarations from an infested premises at Glenorie showed the movement from Sackville North, within the Glenorie red zone, to the Gumble site.

As a result, the two sites were put under sticky mat surveillance, which showed detections on both.

Dr Mulholland believes the hives at Gumble have not been in close proximity to nearby sites and said there are no indications of any other hive movements off the Sackville North site.

She said the NSW DPI reviewed movement restrictions and has issued a biosecurity direction which prevents further movement of beehives from the Gumble eradication zone.

"Every new detection always results in a review of where we are at with movement restrictions and the response as a whole," Dr Mulholland said.

"We have already undertaken that review in relation to the Gumble infested property and we are comfortable with the current restrictions that are in place."

Despite the Varroa mite incursion going into its thirteenth month, Dr Mulholland said the primary focus was still on eradication.

"The standard approach that we would apply to any biosecurity incursion response is if it's technically feasible to eradicate, that's always the primary goal because it removes the threat from Australia and we no longer have to deal with it," she said.

"If we can't achieve eradication, the fallback plan is containment and if that becomes no longer possible, the fallback plan is transitioned to management.

"That is the standard approach that we use for any emergency responses of this nature.

"We will consider those options if we come to that, but at the moment the primary goal is eradication."

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