However Howard Rose, a retired nurseryman from Bingara, is more concerned about a pest that is already here; the Small Hive Beetle, the affect it is having on local beehives and the ramifications of that impact. 

“All the crops that we grow up here are subject to bee pollination and if they don’t get it we don’t grow it. Simple as that,” Mr Rose said.

“This thing’s small, it’s only a third of the size of a bee and he lays his eggs in the same container as the eggs of the bee, the bee hatches first and he eats the bee.

“It’s decimating the bee population. Some of my friends … at Bingara and Delungra are just at their wits end over it. They need help and they need a lot of help and they need people who know what they’re talking about, or at least have an interest in what they’re talking about to be able to help.”

A NSW Department Of Primary Industries (DPI) fact sheet revealed the beetle originated from South Africa and can now be found throughout much of New South Wales and Queensland, as far north as Ingham. It has also been found in Victoria, but conditions there appear not to suit. 

The insect prefers temp-eratures of about 30 degrees Celsius plus and humidity of 70 per cent or higher. In eastern states its distribution is widespread particularly along the warmer coastal strip. 

Since its discovery in October 2002 the beetle has spread rapidly. In 2007 an incursion occurred into the north of Western Australia at Kununurra and it appears it may have become established there.

Emmaville Beekeeper, Barry Simpkins, agreed the small beetle is a big pest in this district and said the only way is to control the insect.

“This is a little tiny black thing a little bigger than a flea,” Mr Simpkins said.

“Left unchecked it’ll completely devastate a hive in three or four days. The only thing you can do you’ve got to burn your gear; that’s the only alternative when it gets to that stage.

“Before that, if you get onto it early enough they’ve got these beetle traps out...they put this chemical inside it and the beetles walk into this and then go away to die…they’re too small for the bees to get in and you’ve got to do that pretty regularly and that controls them.”

“So if you’re not vigilant and not onto your hives all the time it can get quite expensive. 

“Well it gets quite expensive in any case…it’s something that’s not going away, it’s there all the time. I couldn’t put a figure on how much we lose, but we lose a fair bit over the year from it.”

Mr Simpkins said the beetles tend to attack small hives so the idea is to keep hives as strong as possible.

“The bees will clean it up if the infestation is not too bad, but if it is a bad infestation then all you can do is burn it,” Mr Simpkins said.

“It likes the hot humid weather and some of the blokes down the coast lose a lot of stuff, but you don’t see them much during the winter.

“Pollination is during spring and it seems to be less of problem then, It seems to happen when your bees are doing nothing, when they’re dormant. The biggest issue is when your hive goes queenless or gets small, that’s the biggest issue.”

Mr Simpkins said some of the hives can get thousands of the beetles in them at different times.

The beetle also has a strong flight capability (perhaps as much as 10 kilometres) and readily flies when temperatures are high to seek out new bee colonies.

Although there is some research going on by the DPI Mr Rose said there is virtually nothing being spent on the problem. 

“They do collect a registration fee off the apiarists…since 1975 they’ve been paying this thing and they virtually don’t get anything for it,” he said.

Mr Rose said he knows of three beekeepers who are having trouble with the beetle. One of them asked Mr Rose to look the beetle up because he had heard it was in this area. He subsequently found out it was in his hives.

“So he had to go down and burn about 10 hives to get rid of the beetle when they become infested. Each hive costs about $1000,” Mr Rose said.

Another hive owner who did not want to be named has said they used to have 50 hives; now they have two.

Mr Rose is concerned.

“The affect on the honey is the minor side of things, it’s the affect on the little bee that’s got me worried for the simple reason of who’s going to pollinate my zucchinis next year?”