A statewide emergency order was issued on Sunday night with the movement of bees halted across NSW as the government escalates efforts to prevent the spread of Varroa mite which were detected in sentinel hives around the Port of Newcastle last week. 

Trangie has become an area of focus as tracing identified that hives belonging to a commercial beekeeper who owned hives near Newcastle where mites were later detected had also sent hives to a property in the Trangie area. 

In order to eliminate any risk, the bees in those hives will now be euthenised and the hives destroyed, despite no actual detection of mites in the boxes at Trangie. 

Minister for Agriculture Dugald Saunders announced late on Sunday afternoon 26 June that the emergency order would commence from 6pm that evening. 

“If varroa mite settles in the state, it will have severe consequences, so we’re taking every precaution and action needed to contain the parasite and protect the local honey industry and pollination,” Minister Saunders said. 

"The emergency order is a fairly strict one and it’s a message to all beekeepers, both hobby and professional, that we do need them to be helping monitor the situation and making sure we don't see varroa mite spread across the state." 

The statewide order is a fourth tier general emergency zone that has been added to the existing zones, in which no bees or beekeeping paraphernalia are allowed to be moved across NSW. 

A 50km biosecurity zone is still in place around the port of Newcastle and beekeepers within that area must also notify the NSW Department of Primary Industries of the locations of their hives. 

A 25km surveillance zone is also still active around the site, where officials are monitoring and inspecting managed and feral honey bees to limit the extent of the incursion.  

A 10km emergency zone around the Port remains in place, where eradication plans will be enacted to treat hives, including at a new fourth property that has been identified. 

Minister for Agriculture Dugald Saunders announced the statewide emergency order would come into force from 6pm on Sunday 26 June.

"Varroa mites are the number one threat for our bee industry," Minister Saunders said. 

"Up until this point Australia has kept it at bay and we're not exactly sure how or when the ite came into the country at this point." 

"Movements of any kind are to absolutely stop as of tonight (Sunday)," he said. 

"We will then move into a more proactive stance and continue to work closely with the bee industry on how we can keep them productive."