A brief history of honey bee incursions into Australia
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A brief history of honey bee incursions into Australia
7/9/2016
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In the last nine years three different Asian honey bee species have arrived in Australia at various times: Apis dorsata (giant Asian honey bee), Apis cerana (Asiatic honey bee), and Apis florea (dwarf honey bee). All are very cool bees in their native range (particularly cute little Apis florea), but we don’t want them here in Australia because of potential threats to native biodiversity and agriculture. One fear is that they will transfer Varroa mites to our domestic Apis mellifera (European honey bee) populations, which have been resident in Australia for almost 200 years. Most foreign Apis incursions have been Apis cerana, and this species is the original host of Varroa mites. There are other mite species that persist with Apis dorsata, which can also negatively affect Apis mellifera. Varroa mites, and the diseases they can carry, are a major threat to European honey bees around the world.Since 2007 Australia has had a resident population of Apis cerana in the greater Cairns region. These bees are the descendants of a single colony that did not carry any Varroa mites (the first colony was actually found in a local Cairns boat in dry dock, and had likely been there for over a year, probably having come from an international ship that stopped in port). Over 660 descendant nests have since been found and destroyed. These bees are now here to stay. The most recent detection of a separate Apis cerana incursion was last week, in Townsville port. The colony that was found (~5000 bees) is believed to have been there, undetected, for up to two years. It was found with Varroa mites (two individuals). Time will tell if this was a lucky, isolated find, or if they have reproduced and spread already (which is possibly more likely)? What is clear is that the arrival of foreign Apis colonies to Australian ports happens fairly frequently, and our quarantine detection measures have so far averted multiple potential invasions.(Note: Varroa mites will not directly affect any native Australian bee species, although there is potential that the diseases they transmit among honey bee colonies may spread to native bees too)
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