Robert Harvey

The honeybee mite, Varroa destructor, finally breached Australia’s biosecurity defences four years ago, and is here to stay. Even more concerning, our standard treatments – such as specialised pesticides – are already failing.

What does this mean for Australians, and what can we do about it?

Roughly the size of a pinhead, the parasitic mite is regarded as the most destructive pest of honeybees worldwide. It feeds on bees, weakening colonies and causing their collapse.

For decades, Australia was the only continent free of the mite. That changed in 2022, when Varroa was detected in sentinel hives at the Port of Newcastle, New South Wales.

An ambitious eradication campaign was launched, but abandoned by 2023. Today, Varroa is established across much of Australia’s eastern and southern states. The focus has shifted from eradication to management, and we now face a new threat – treatment-resistant mites.