Pollination under pressure: Preparing growers for varroa mite

Growers are no strangers to disruption. Market downturns, natural disasters, rising input costs and supply shortages are all part of the risk landscape.

But varroa mite brings a different kind of pressure.

This small pest poses a significant risk to one of horticulture’s most important inputs: pollination. For many growers, it is an input they have not had to actively plan for, with wild honey bees, also referred to as feral bees, often taking care of the job on farm.

However, varroa mite’s incursion into Queensland has put both wild pollination and pollination from managed hives at risk.

That is why industry bodies spanning horticulture, wider agriculture, and apiculture are working to bring our industries together, helping farmers and beekeepers respond to this shared risk.

What is the risk?

Varroa mite is a parasitic arthropod that infests European honeybee and Asian honeybee hives. Once inside the hive, mite populations can build quickly, feeding and multiplying before attaching themselves to bees and spreading to other hives.

Over time, wild hives, and even well-managed colonies maintained by beekeepers can become overrun and decimated.

In May this year, the Queensland Department of Primary Industries reported more than 1,300 infested premises, mainly in Southeast Queensland.

Queensland is also contending with the added challenge of some varroa mite infestations showing resistance to chemical treatments, alongside concurrent infestations of small hive beetle weakening colonies. 

In terms of chemicals for mite control, bee and agricultural pest researcher Dr Diana Leemon said that there is a narrow window of safety to operate in with chemicals as you’re trying to kill one arthropod while saving another.

“It’s not like spraying mites on a plant – they’re two different life forms. So, you can more easily find chemistries that safely hits one without the other,” Dr Leemon said.

What are the potential consequences?

For horticulture, the risk is what reduced pollination can mean on-farm: less fruit set, lower yields, smaller fruit, deformed and lower-grade produce. For growers, that can quickly become a significant hit to the bottom line.

At the foothills of the Blue Mountains in Bilpin, apple growers suspect varroa mite may have played a role in substantially reduced yields.

The ABC reported that apple grower Bill Shields found his apple trees “strangely bare”, with yields sitting at just 5 to 10 per cent of normal levels.

Victoria Pengilley reported that on Mr Shields’ farm, “Orchards that should be flush with colour are instead dotted with sparse, stunted fruit or none at all.”

Why must Queensland horticulture act now?

Varroa mite has been in Queensland since early 2025, but its true impacts are not always immediate. Dr Leemon said that overseas, losses of 90 to 95 per cent of feral bees—sometimes up to 100 per cent— over two to three years, was considered the norm.

In New South Wales, however, varroa incursions into high densities of feral bees saw similar losses in a much shorter timeframe, and Dr Leemon said a similar scenario is playing out in Queensland.

Although varroa mite is currently concentrated in Southeast Queensland, Bundaberg Fruit & Vegetable Growers CEO, Bree Watson said growers in the Wide Bay-Burnett region are already starting to notice declines in wild hives.

Direct production impacts have not yet been reported, but that does not mean the risk is not there. Once poor fruit set, reduced yields or quality issues start to show, growers may have already lost the opportunity to respond.

“By the time a grower notices poor fruit set, reduced yields, or quality issues resulting from inadequate pollination, it is often too late to rectify the problem for that season,” Ms Watson said.

“Growers who have traditionally relied on wild hives or their neighbours bringing in managed hives are likely to be impacted the hardest.”

What support is available and what can growers do?

The main message is simple: start the conversation early.

That means communication between horticulture and apiculture, and between individual growers and beekeepers. As varroa mite changes the pollination landscape, those relationships will become increasingly important.

Industry bodies across horticulture, wider agriculture and apiculture are working together to help growers and beekeepers navigate this pest threat.

The BeeReady Queensland workshop series is being delivered by QFVG through the Farm Business Resilience Program, supported by the Queensland Government’s Community Bee Innovation Fund.

The workshops bring growers and beekeepers together in key growing regions to better understand what varroa mite could mean for crop pollination, hear from technical experts including Dr Leemon, and start building the relationships needed to plan for future pollination needs.

From a grower’s perspective, Bundaberg Fruit & Vegetable Growers CEO, Bree Watson said pollination needs to be treated like any other critical farm input.

“Just as you’d plan and budget for fertiliser, irrigation and labour, pollination activities need to be planned, coordinated and budgeted well in advance,” Ms Watson said.

“Open communication, collaboration and planning will be critical so we can ensure both industries remain productive and viable.”

Farm Business Resilience Program Manager Amy Nash said growers need to consider pollination as part of their farm business planning.

“Pollination needs to be part of forward planning. It is not just about preparing for potential cost increases, but also the risk that commercial pollination services may become harder to secure. If growers leave it until the last minute, they may find the services they need are already at capacity,” Ms Nash said.

Both Dr Leemon and Ms Watson noted that pollination services may become more competitive, and potentially more expensive, as the pest threat continues.

For growers, that means understanding what support their crop may need, making contact with beekeepers ahead of time, and not leaving pollination arrangements until the last minute, when it may be too late to secure the services needed.

BeeReady Queensland events are jointly supported by the Community Bee Innovation Fund and the Farm Business Resilience Program.