An $18 million compensation package has been opened for registered beekeepers affected by the varroa mite outbreak. 

The Varroa destructor bug has been detected at 34 premises in NSW in recent weeks. This has already resulted in close to 1,700 hives and over 15 million bees being destroyed.

The state’s Department of Primary Industries has most recently confirmed new detections at Campvale, Homesville and Glen Oak, which are within existing emergency zones.

With the new package, registered commercial and recreational beekeepers can be reimbursed for all equipment, hives and bees destroyed in the eradication process.

“Varroa mite is the most significant threat to our honey bee and pollination industries,” says  federal Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Minister Murray Watt.

“We unanimously agree that it is both technically feasible and economically beneficial to remove it from our shores.”

New South Wales Agricultural Minister Dugald Saunders says the compensation package should appease beekeepers.

“There are people across the state that have been feeling quite concerned about how they will be impacted,” he said.

“This now provides that certainty that if you are a registered beekeeper we will have your back.”

The package includes support for amateur beekeepers who have registered their hives, when previously only commercial apiarists were going to receive compensation.

The Australian Honey Bee Industry Council has welcomed the compensation package. 

The estimated cost of the varroa mite incursion to the bee industry is in the “tens of millions of dollars”.