Varroa Mite Devastates Queensland Bee Colonies, Threatens Food Security

In March 2025, the 'varroa destructor' first appeared in Queensland beehives.

It is believed the parasitic mite, deadly to European honey bees, was carried over the Scenic Rim from New South Wales, which has been battling varroa since 2022.

Just a year on, it is estimated 90 per cent of south-east Queensland's wild honey bee colonies have collapsed, and almost all managed colonies are in a battle for survival.

"For south-east Queensland, the only word I can use now is devastation," Rick McFarlane, a commercial apiarist known as The Backyard Beekeeper, said.

Varroa gets into a colony through foundress mites; adult females carried on the back of an infected bee that lay eggs in the hive's brood cells.

The mites feed on the larvae inside, which then emerge as severely impaired bees.

"So, our bees might be healthy and flying around today, but the next generation, if affected by varroa, can't fly," Mr McFarlane said.

"The colony can no longer function, and it collapses."

To detect varroa, Mr McFarlane demonstrated how beekeepers pour hundreds of bees into a container filled with alcohol, strain the dead bees out, and count how many mites have fallen off.

"We're hoping for less than three," Mr McFarlane explained.

But as he peered inside a plastic jar, he frowned: "Sixteen varroa mite in that sample."

Until recently, the most effective method for killing varroa was a synthetic miticide.

However, a new mite has emerged which is resistant to it.

Other treatments involve using oxalic acid in the form of strips and vapour.

Oxalic acid is a naturally occurring chemical which is non-toxic to bees, but harmful to both mites and humans.

Regular oxalic acid use can keep numbers low enough for the colony to survive, but will not eliminate the mites altogether.

It is hard work, and emotionally and financially draining.

"I've only got 150 hives, and it's $1,500 to $3,000 extra per month that I've got to cover," Mr McFarlane said.

"It's our livelihood, but more than that we love our bees. So, when you start to see colonies collapsing, it's heartbreaking."

Barely hanging on

Amber Stone, who has poured her life savings into her north Brisbane beekeeping business, Teralba Bees, has had a significant part of her operation taken away.

"We would have families come to the apiary, we would put on beekeeper suits and go down into the beehives," she said.

Australia is one of the last places to be affected by varroa, and Ms Stone said the emergence of new treatments and genetically resistant bees elsewhere was giving the local industry hope.

But it is a desperate and frustrating struggle to hang on.

"The joy has been taken out of beekeeping," Ms Stone said as she removed formerly infested beehive frames from a box and prepared to burn them.

"Treatments are changing all the time, and (new treatments) aren't approved as quickly as you'd like them to be.

"So, it's like, are we doing this, are we not doing this? We either throw everything we can at this, or we watch our bees die."

A threat to food security

Western European honey bees have been in Australia for 200 years and are responsible for most of the pollination necessary to grow food crops.

Macadamias, mangoes and avocadoes are some of the Queensland products most reliant on them.

If managed colonies collapse, and there are almost no wild bees left, harvest failures are a real possibility.

"We think there will be the potential for pollination shortfalls," Rob Stephens from the Queensland Department of Primary Industries said.

"There will be industries that don't quite understand their reliance on bees for pollination services because they've been over-reliant on wild honey bees."

He said some would need to pay for commercial beekeepers to come in for the first time.

"There is that possibility that there's a direct threat to food security," Mr Stephens said.

"If you add (pollination) as another fixed price, that could push some growers over the limit."

New varroa treatments are available overseas, and the Australian government is working on approving them for use here.

But Mr Stephens warned against assuming that approval was imminent.

"There is always a collapse when varroa comes into a new place like Australia, but industry will recover," he said.

"Everywhere in the world they have gotten over this hump, and we expect to as well, but there are going to be some tough times in the immediate future."