Local beekeepers Martin and Angelica Jackson are worried the rollout of the Varroa mite hive cull is flawed.
The owners of Honey Wines Australia have been closely monitoring the euthanisation process of bees in red zones, after the deadly mite threatened to destroy local industry in June.
The husband-and-wife team that own the region’s only mead manufacturing business lost 90% of their beehives in the cull.
Despite supporting the necessity for bee euthanisation in affected areas, they have some criticisms of the effectiveness of the rollout.
“Most of my beekeeper friends (myself included) have assumed that by being a registered beekeeper the team responsible for the euthanisation would already have our details,” Martin says.
“In the middle of October I worried about why it was taking so long to be contacted and phoned the DPI [Department of Primary Industry] who redirected me to the Exotic Plant & Pest Hotline.
“It was only then did I realise they had no idea our 58 beehives in the Toronto area existed.
“From what I can tell, it seems the DPI isn’t sharing registered beekeepers’ details and instead relying on them to self-report.
“Given that multiple friends of mine were also waiting to be contacted, I expect many more would be in the same situation and not realise they have to self-report.”
While the rollout may be flawed, Martin says unfortunately the cull is essential.
“What I can applaud them [the DPI] for is once the Varroa mite emergency response team knew about our hives, they were very fast to organise a group to come and euthanise them (by applying a petrol-soaked cloth and wrapping the hive boxes in plastic film to seal them),” he said.
“They worked long into the night and I thank them for their efforts.”
He is quick to condemn those against the actions he says are sadly necessary.
“It’s disappointing to see people complaining and petitioning the cull and saying we should sit back and let the mite take over,” Martin added.
“As much as I love the bees, they are an insect and one that only lives for a little over 30 days at the best of times.
“Cutting their lives slightly shorter than usual to save many more is a good thing. I wish those complaining would realise that biosecurity experts much smarter than them are in charge of making decisions.”
As for the future of his own business, Martin says Honey Wines Australia will have to change processes to survive.
“We will likely have to source raw honey from other local beekeepers in the Hunter Valley area until we build up our beehives again at our new property in Broke (which hopefully will remain a safe zone),” he said.
“This will allow us to retain consistent flavour in our meads. Hunter Valley honey has a delicious flavour so we don’t want to lose that.”
Honey Wines Australia produces a range of plain and flavoured meads from raw Hunter Valley honey.
DID YOU KNOW?
Mead, also known as honey wine, is the oldest fermented drink in the world, with the earliest known meads found in ancient Chinese pottery.
In time it became more commonly known as the drink of the Vikings.
