Native stingless bees could become victims of the NSW government's baiting program to kill European honeybees, researchers say.
The NSW Department of Primary Industries, which is using the toxic pesticide fipronil to eradicate honeybees in the bush, disputes this. It asserted that the poison- laced sugar syrup used in the baiting "has been found not to attract native bees".
The European honeybees are the only host for the deadly varroa mite, which the department is trying to eradicate.
As the Newcastle Herald has reported, an enormous number of bees have been euthanised on people's properties since the mite was first detected at the Port of Newcastle in June.
However, if the department has any hope of eradicating the mite, it must also kill wild honeybees in affected zones including the Hunter.
Cardiff's Dani Lloyd-Prichard, of the Australian Native Bee Association, said the baiting of wild honeybees would put native stingless bees at risk of poisoning for up to three years.
"There will be poisonous honey left behind, even though the bees have been killed," said Mrs Lloyd-Prichard, a bee expert, who previously worked for University of Newcastle and Tocal College as a researcher and trainer respectively.
"It will be there for other insects and animals to raid and consume. If our stingless bees go to those dead hives and consume that poison-laced honey, they'll die."
The association has urged owners to consider moving their native beehives to a safe location outside the eradication zones.
It is running a program to help owners who do not have a safe place to take their hives.
Mrs Lloyd-Prichard said the association was fully behind the department trying to eradicate the mite.
"All we're asking is that we're given notification when the bait stations become live, so stingless beekeepers have time to relocate their hives out of those zones," she said.
"We're also asking the department to clarify what monitoring will be ongoing in those dead colonies to ensure there's not a massive fallout for the native bees and other animals.
"We're not sure when the baits will go active in the Hunter. We know the bait stations are in place."
She said native stingless bees are attracted to the honey in European honeybee nests.
"They will find an undefended colony and a resource of honey. This fipronil is 10 times more toxic to stingless bees than it is to the European honeybees. So if they ingest that they will die, possibly pretty quickly without an opportunity to go back to their hive and potentially wipe out their entire colony.
"We just don't know and it's not being monitored. That's why we're erring on the side of caution and saying to anyone that has stingless bees, get them out of the red zone."
The Department of Primary Industries [DPI] said in a statement that planning is underway for baiting operations in the Hunter to be "rolled out in the new year".
"DPI has been authorised by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority [APVMA] to use fipronil for this process," the statement said.
"To ensure the safety of the community, native animals, livestock and the environment, this work is strictly controlled in accordance with a APVMA permit.
"Additionally, assessments have been conducted and risk mitigation measures have been taken to prevent the impact on animals and the environment."
The statement said the European honeybee feeder stations are "designed to exclude non-target animals and insects and to prevent the contamination of soil and water".
"While the stations are active, they are strictly supervised by trained staff. If off-target animals, birds or insects are observed entering the stations, operations are suspended and a risk assessment is undertaken to determine if baiting should continue.
"The sugar syrup used in these operations has also been tested and has been found not to attract native bees."
The department said it is working with the Australian Native Bee Association to inform native beekeepers, as the baiting program is rolled out.
The department said that the native bee association "can provide advice and assistance to beekeepers with native bees, including offering a hive fostering program to move native beehives out of the varroa mite emergency eradication zone".
Pollination Factor
Mrs Lloyd-Prichard said native stingless bees are "essential to our ecosystems".
"Without the honeybees around, a lot of backyard veggie growers in this area will be relying on native bees and flies, moths and butterflies to pollinate their veggies," she said.
Some beekeepers believe the mite can't be eradicated, as no other country in the world has done so.
But the department believes targeting eradication is in the best interests of the primary industry sectors that rely on pollination services.
In NSW, honey and hive products contribute about $50 million to the economy.
In Australia, honeybees provide pollination services to agricultural industries valued at $14.2 billion.
"They can stop the mite if they can contain it," Mrs Lloyd-Prichard said.
"If they can find the edge of the spread and knock out the host of the varroa mite, which is the European honeybees, there's no other host for it. There is a chance to wipe it out. But they've got to go in hard, which is what they're doing.
"It would be wonderful to think they could eradicate the mite. If they can't, we hope they can at least contain it so the rest of Australia is not exposed."
If varroa can't be eradicated, it will be "absolutely devastating to our honeybee colonies and any industries that rely on pollination for a long time".
"It takes a long time for them to bounce back. The bee colonies will never come back to the strength that we have now in Australia.
"They won't be as productive or healthy because the varroa mite is also carrying other viruses our bees haven't been exposed to."
If eradication fails, controlling varroa and the other viruses they carry must be done with chemicals, whether they are organic or synthetic.
"That means chemicals in your hive, which means traces of chemicals will go through to the products of your hives," Mrs Lloyd-Prichard said.
"So we don't want this in Australia. We've been able to remain varroa-free for a long time. We're the last stronghold of clean honey in the world and it is absolutely worth fighting for."
Nevertheless, European honeybees are an introduced species.
Mrs Lloyd-Prichard said it will be interesting to see "what might take up residence" in old hollows once the wild honeybees die.
"European honeybees have been here for 200 years, but they shouldn't have been here. They don't belong here.
"We have a lot of threatened species around, like little mammals that need hollows. It could be a good thing."
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