Invasion from Asian bees a major threat

There was a sting in the tail of the protest by Australia's beekeepers outside Parliament House this week, where Senators have been debating the future of an obscure A$5 million ($6.5 million) eradication campaign.

At risk, government and industry reports warn, is food production worth up to A$4 billion and an enduring threat to humans, the environment and Australia's coastal culture.

The threat comes from invasion by the Asian bee, which sneaked into the country in a ship's mast three years ago, landing at Cairns and spreading over a restricted 55km area around the north Queensland city.

Biosecurity officials and volunteers have fought to keep the invasion contained, but the Government has now given up, declaring the bees' ability to hitchhike aboard trucks, containers, and just about any other form of transport makes them impossible to eradicate.

The federal Agriculture Department will pull funds from the eradication campaign at the end of the month in a decision that has caused divisions within the department and infuriated beekeepers, farmers and the food industry.

Warning that bee pollination was crucial to the nation's food supply, the Australian Food and Grocery Council said government estimates put the cost of a collapse caused by the Asian bee at more than A$3.6 billion, and 20,500 jobs.

It said the A$80 billion food manufacturing sector alone would lose millions.

The impact of a widespread Asian bee invasion would also hit human health, and harm coastal lifestyles.

The federal Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation has estimated that the cost to public health would reach up to A$18 million a year, with a further annual costs of up to A$7 million for "public nuisance".

The bee, a poor honey producer, outcompetes existing rivals and if not stopped would spread across large areas of the country's most important food-producing areas in an invasion beekeepers warn would rank with cane toads and rabbits.

Even without its fierce competition, the Asian bee is a host for the varroa mite, which has decimated bee populations in New Zealand and the United States.

The bee's fierce competition for nectar, pollen and habitat would also damage other species, with research warning that it could hit native birds, insects and small animals such as possums.

"It is unacceptable that a decision has been made not to go ahead with eradication in the absence of a full cost-benefit analysis of the impact on our environment and the honey industry," Greens Deputy Leader, Senator Christine Milne, said.

"It is not only our honey supply, our apiarists and our natural environment that will suffer - the Asian honey bee is quite aggressive and it is quite possible that it will become a menace in communities across Australia as it nests in cars, buildings, boats and similar places."

The Victorian Farmers' Federation said that unless the Government reversed its decision to abandon the eradication campaign, the Asian bee could wipe out the European honeybees that pollinate all the food varieties produced by Australian farmers.

"This campaign goes well beyond protecting the bee industry," Federation horticulture group president Gaye Tripodi said.

"As much as 65 per cent of Australia's fresh produce requires pollination by bees. Not only will our nation suffer, but our agricultural export markets will also be placed at risk"

A$4b
worth of food production at risk from the Asian bee

A$5b
estimated cost of an eradication campaign

20,500
jobs could be affected