Little vials of bee semen key to Varroa fight

Also known as Varroa destructor, the parasitic mite is the biggest threat to Australia’s honey bee industry, according to CSIRO researchers Saul Cunningham and Paul De Barro.

It’s burrowed into all beekeeping countries, except Australia.

That’s why the Department of Agriculture wants to open the door to imports of drone bee semen, to bolster Australian bees’ resistance with genetics from colonies that have coped with Varroa mite for decades.

“(Semen imports) would absolutely strengthen the genetics of our honey bees here in Australia,” said Australian Honey Bee Industry Council executive director Trevor Weatherhead, Raceview, Queensland.

Drone bee semen is commonly traded globally, and domestically within Australia.

Since 2012 an avenue has opened up to import bee genetics into Australia.

Beekeepers can ship live queen bees through customs, but the price is high.

“It can cost thousands to bring the queens in, but you can only get 50 per cent of the genetic material out of them to breed your own queens,” Mr Weatherhead said.

Semen would be packaged in small glass tubes for use with artificial insemination technology.

The department’s new policy would limit semen imports to countries which have already approved to export queen honey bees into Australia – Canada, the European Union, Japan, New Zealand and the United States of America.

Varroa mite originated in north Asia in the 1950s and spread to South and North America, Africa and South East Asia.

New Zealand suffered an invasion in 2008 and feral bee populations fell by about 90 per cent when Varroa wreaked its destructive path.

The parasite has since been found in Papua New Guinea.

In 2012 a research project funded by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation investigated seven lines of Australian bees and found none were resistant to Varroa mite.

The pest could devastate the apiculture industry and agriculture, which depends on bees for crop and pasture legume pollination.

Mendooran-based queen bee breeder Terry Brown (pictured on our cover), said imported genetics would save beekeepers money and boost resistance to chalkbrood, a fungal disease that can hammer working bee populations.

“Right now, we bring in about eight to 10 queen bees a time into the quarantine station, but it would only cost me a few hundred dollars for a few vials of semen, as opposed to $2000 to $3000 to import live queens,” Mr Brown said.

“A vile of semen should be enough to inseminate 10 to 15 bees.”

The draft policy is open for comment until December 1.