On The Land
10 July, 2026
Urgent action needed to stop Varroa mite
GOVERNMENTS, communities, policymakers and industry leaders need to do more in the fight against the deadly Varroa mite as it gets closer to Far North Queensland, a local beekeeper has said.
Atherton’s Honey Providore owner Graham Thornton warned the impacts would have “major implications” on local beekeepers, food production and pollination services across the region.
“The deadly Varroa Mite is on its way, and our focus will change to look after our bees,” he said.
“For many outside our industry, the arrival of Varroa mite may seem like a problem affecting bees alone. For those of us living it every day, the reality is far more confronting.
“Varroa is affecting businesses, families, livelihoods, food production and the future of pollination in Australia.”
Varroa is a parasitic mite that attacks European honeybee colonies. It arrived in Australia 2022 and crossed into southeast Queensland, where almost all wild honeybees are now gone and many of the state’s managed colonies have either collapsed or are under threat. It is now as far north as Bundaberg
According to Mr Thornton, Australia was the last major honey-producing nation in the world to remain free of Varroa mite.
“Today, Australian beekeepers are being forced to adapt to a challenge that other countries have spent decades learning to manage,” he said.
“Across the country, colonies now require constant monitoring and treatment simply to survive. What was once a relatively low-intervention industry has become a relentless battle against a pest that has devastated honeybee populations worldwide.”
He said his operation was already changing the way it does business.
“Our operation will condense to our Atherton facility, and our shop front facility in Bungalow will close and be replaced by a “Mobile Beekeeping Shop” to continue to support local hobbyist beekeepers and our honey lovers that buy honey direct from a beekeeper.”
Australia is home to more than 47,000 registered beekeepers and approximately 855,000 managed honeybee hives.
AgriFutures Australia reported that beekeepers in affected regions spent an average of more than 390 additional hours each year managing and treating their colonies - the equivalent of more than 10 weeks of full-time work.
“Don’t be surprised if you start seeing more imported fruits and vegetables at the supermarkets over the next few years,” Mr Thornton said.
“Talking to fellow beekeepers in SEQ..., the numbers are devastating. Beekeepers are seeing 80 to 90 per cent losses in colonies, with many saying the new Varroa incursion has brought a new virus into Australia, and if we don’t prepare for that, our bees won’t survive.
“The importance of bees and pollination cannot be underestimated. The continued growth of agriculture on the Atherton Tablelands it’s not just about honey, it’s about providing a valuable pollination service to growers, so that they can continue to provide food for our communities.
“Blueberries, macadamias, avocados, melons, pumpkins and mangoes on the Atherton Tablelands are but a few crops locally that may be affected.”
A recent conference in Bundaberg heard that a new incursion was now resistant to synthetic treatments.
New research from New Zealand was offering beekeepers a possible alternative by developing a biopesticide that makes the mites infertile. But it could be up to two years before it was available.
Tablelands hobbyist beekeeper Philip Gray who has been following Mr Thornton’s advocacy and other information sources on the mite, said many of the treatments used elsewhere in the world were not allowed in Australia, including a “do-it-yourself” treatment popular (and cheap) in New Zealand.
“We were talking to beekeepers over there and they said last year they had 5000 hives and they went back to 3000,” Mr Gray said.
“This year they were using oxalic vaping and the results were really positive.
“You can buy oxalic acid and you get a little vaping machine and when it heats up you put the oxalic acid into it and it turns into a steam which you put in your hives. It takes about 15 minutes and because it’s organic it doesn’t affect the honey.”
Mr Gray said another threat in FNQ was the buying of Queen bees from the south, even in some areas known for Varroa mites. They come with escort bees which could be mite carriers.
He echoed Mr Thornton’s calls for more support for treatments and for communities to buy local honey.
In the meantime, Mr Thornton has launched a new brand initiative “Eat Raw Honey, Save Our Bees”.
“We are calling on the beekeeping community and honey lovers to talk to your local members, movers and shakers, to appeal to the government for assistance to the industry. Don’t let imported honey be the new normal,” Mr Thornton said.
On Thursday last week, the State Government announced it would provide $500,000 to fund six new projects to tackle the challenges posed by the varroa mite. The projects, all based in the south of the state, include workshops, educational tours, Sunshine University research – one of which is examining spider venom as a mite killer, and the creation of six management plans.
It also held a roundtable forum on 30 June to “explore 10 priority action areas and tested proposed actions, identified practical pathways forward and agreed on key issues for consideration at a follow-up forum being held on 28 July”.
