Is Australia Still Varroa Free?

[Ben Framed]

Is Australia still the one Continent which remains varroa free? The last I read of varroa in your country was in 2016 and the situation was handled well. All clear so far?

Phillip

[max2]

All clear so far.

Biossecurity is on constant watch.

I don't know if varroa could be introduced via honey. In recent years honey imports have been allowed.

The reason given is " trade agreements" - personally i think this is  silly. We have no idea how SHB's got here. We know that a lot of hives were lost and I simply can't imagine the damage Varroa would create.
I'm at an age where I would probably stop beekeeping.

[Lesgold]

After reading what you guys go through with varroa, I?d be in a similar situation to max2. Beekeeping is hard enough without adding another bug to the situation. I reckon I?d drop down to about half a dozen hives  if and when varroa arrives. It must really take the fun out of the hobby.

[NigelP]

Treating for varroa is no hassle, many different ways of doing it. Some more effective than others and some more labour intensive than others, depends on your ethical view point. These days I stick miticide strips in  each hive, takes about 30 minutes and remove 6 weeks later....another 30 minutes.
I check drop counts a few months afterwards and if any seem high they get vaped with Oxalic Acid.  With a sublimox it's about 1 minute per hive.

[max2]

Sounds easy enough but there is a cost in time and money.
At this point - and for the last 46 years - I have been able to produce honey without the use of any chemicals.

I use not artificials in my farming aspects and use a minimal amount ( ticks) in cattle.

At my age to make such a huge change would be a big challenge. I gues " why bother".

[jimineycricket]

" why bother".

Because, at (our) age, we need to keep going in order to keep going!  :)  And it is worth the effort to sustain a few hives just to enjoy the presence of having bees flying around.   Besides, I like reading posts from other bee keepers in other areas/countries.  Very interesting.

[Skeggley]

Still SHB free here too.
32+ days in a row over 35?C (95F) is starting to get to me too?