Skip to main content Skip to main navigation Skip to search
Home

Top navigation main

  • News & media
  • Jobs
  • Minister
  • Contact us
Main menu

AWE Main

  • Agriculture and land
    Agriculture and land Building stronger and more sustainable agriculture, fisheries, forestry and land care.
    • Animal health
    • Climate change and agriculture
    • Farming, food and drought
    • Fisheries
    • Forestry
    • Plant health
    • Drought and rural support
    • Mouse infestation advice
    Xylella

    Protect against unwanted plant pests

    Our biosecurity system helps protects us. Everyone has a role in supporting our biosecurity system.

    Find out more

  • Biosecurity and trade
    Biosecurity and trade Lowering biosecurity risks to Australia, and assisting industry to accelerate growth towards a $100 billion agricultural sector by 2030.
    • Aircraft, vessels and military
    • Biosecurity policy
    • Cats and dogs
    • Exporting
    • Importing
    • Pests, diseases and weeds
    • Public awareness and education
    • Trade and market access
    • Travelling or sending goods to Australia
    • Report a concern
    Brown marmorated stink bug

    BMSB Seasonal Measures

    Australia has strengthened seasonal measures to manage the risk of BMSB.

    View our seasonal measures

  • Science and research
    Science and research Undertaking research and collecting data to support informed decisions and policies.
    • Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES)
    • Plant Innovation Centre
    Abares

    ABARES Insights

    Get 'snapshots’ of agricultural, forestry and fisheries industries, or analysis of key issues.

    Find out more

  • About us
    About us We enhance our agricultural industries and trade, and manage the threat of biosecurity risks to Australia.
    • Accountability and reporting
    • Assistance, grants and tenders
    • Contact us
    • Fees and charges
    • News and media
    • Our commitment to you
    • Payments
    • People and jobs
    • Publications
    • What we do
    • Who we are
    Budget 2023-24

    Budget 2023-24

    The 2023–24 Portfolio Budget Statements were released on 9 May 2023.

    Find out more

  • Online services
    Online services We do business with you using online platforms. This makes it easier for you to meet your legal requirements.
Department of Agriculture

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Biosecurity and trade
  3. Pests, diseases and weeds
  4. Plant pests and diseases
  5. Internal and external mites of bees

Sidebar first - Pests diseases weeds

  • Plant pests and diseases
    • National action plans
    • Barley stripe rust
    • Begomoviruses and vectors
    • Brown marmorated stink bug
    • Citrus canker
    • Cyst nematodes of grains and vegetables
    • Exotic bees
    • Exotic stem borers of sugarcane
    • Exotic tree nematodes
    • Fire blight
    • Fruit flies
    • Giant African snail
    • Myrtle rust
    • Grape phylloxera
    • Spongy moths
    • Hessian flies
    • Huanglongbing
    • Internal and external mites of bees
    • Khapra beetle
      • Urgent actions to protect against khapra beetle
        • Measures for plant products under the khapra beetle urgent actions
        • Measures for sea containers under the khapra beetle urgent actions
        • Measures for seeds for sowing under the Khapra beetle urgent actions
      • Khapra beetle in imported goods
      • Khapra beetle bulletin
      • The khapra beetle story
    • Karnal bunt
    • Leaf miner
    • Panama disease tropical race 4
    • Plum pox virus
    • Potato cyst nematode
    • Potato late blight
    • Sudden oak death
    • Xylella and exotic vectors
      • International Symposium on Xylella fastidiosa
    • Tobamoviruses
    • Exotic invasive ants
    • Ug99
    • Wheat stem sawfly
    • Zebra chip

Internal and external mites of bees

PLANT PEST

An adult honey bee with a varroa mite on its back. The mite is a small red brown external parasite that feeds on the bees.

Internal and external mites of bees

Exotic to Australia

Features: Look out for sick bees as these parasitic mites damage bee health, contributing to colony collapse overseas

Where they're from: Most parts of the world excluding Australia

How they spread:Feral bee swarms transported on containers or ships that are infested with mites; local spread on bees or other insects

At risk: Australia’s bees and the pollination services they provide to certain crops

A varroa mite on the back of a honey bee.
Scott Bauer, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Bugwood.org

Report it

Australian Chief Plant Protection Officer, Dr Gabrielle Vivian-Smith, provides an overview of the risks posed by exotic bee mites, including the varroa mite

Download

Document Page File size
Transcript DOCX Word Icon 1 15 KB

If you have difficulty accessing these files, visit web accessibility for assistance.

Keep it out

Australia is one of the few countries in the world to remain free of varroa mite (Varroa destructor) and other exotic mites of bees. Mites damage bee health by feeding on the insects internally or externally, and also by carrying bee infections such as viruses, and spreading them through a colony.

The mite known as Varroa destructor is the leading biosecurity threat, since it has been a major factor in the decline of honeybee populations overseas. It is found in much of Asia, Europe, North America, South America and New Zealand.

Varroa destructor could seriously diminish our healthy population of European honey bees and the pollination services they provide, this would lead to less honey and impact the availably of the food we eat if it established here.

Other mites that pose a threat to our bees are:

  • Tracheal mite (Acarapis woodi) which is not present in Australia or New Zealand, but is found in most other honey-producing regions of the world such as Europe, North America and parts of Asia.
  • Tropilaelaps mites which are present throughout Asia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
  • Varroa jacobosoni, now prevalent worldwide, with the exception of New Zealand, Australia and some countries in Central Africa.

Bee mites are most likely to arrive in Australia with infested bees that have stowed away on ships and boats.

Once in Australia, the mites would spread from bee to bee, and be transported in hives as they are moved around to pollinate crops. Some mites can hitch a ride on other insects as well, speeding up their spread. Mites can kill hives of wild bees, and beekeepers would need to use types of insecticide to control them.

Importing goods

To keep exotic bees and mites out of Australia, never ignore Australia’s strict biosecurity rules.

Import shipments may need to be treated and certified, so before you import, check our Biosecurity Import Conditions system (BICON).

What to look for

Importers

If you work around imported goods you need to look for swarms of bees or bees and their hives attached to:

  • commodities
  • shipping containers
  • vehicles
  • conveyances (ships, boats, aircraft).

Beekeepers

Keep an eye on the health of your bees. It is important to become familiar with established pests, the symptoms they cause and how to control them.

Beekeepers should also be aware of threats posed by exotic pests, so you can recognise something unusual.

BeeAware has resources to help you manage your hives.

Where to look

Near ports

  • Look for swarms of bees that might be newly arrived.

Beehives

Check your hives for signs of new pests.

What to do

If you think you’ve found a swarm of bees that could be newly arrived from a ship, or you find unfamiliar pests in your beehive:

  • do not disturb the swarm or hive  (this may be as simple as closing the doors on a shipping container or sealing bees in a hive if safe to do so)
  • take a photo and report without delay.

Report it

Seen something unusual? Report it. Even if you’re not sure.

Report it without delay

Stay informed

  • Sign up to receive the BeeAware e-newsletter

Read the detail

  • BeeAware: varroa mite 
  • BeeAware: tropilaelaps mite 
  • BeeAware: tracheal mite
  • Bee Biosecurity Video Series for beekeepers​
  • Australian government: Bees and bee pests and diseases 
  • Pest Alert! Do you have stowaways on board?
  • National pest and disease outbreak
  • Queensland government: varroa mite in Townsville 
  • Country Action List (CAL) for high risk pests 

General enquiries

Call 1800 900 090

Contact us online

Report a biosecurity concern

Thanks for your feedback.
Thanks! Your feedback has been submitted.

We aren't able to respond to your individual comments or questions.
To contact us directly phone us or submit an online inquiry

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Please verify that you are not a robot.

Skip

Footer

  • Contact us
  • Accessibility
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • FOI
Last updated: 19 December 2022

© Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.