Tom Barrett wrote

> Trevor Weatherhead wrote to tell us that Australia is free of varroa. I hope
> so but I doubt it. We thought the same about Ireland albeit much closer to
> an infected country. And someone broke the rules either innocently or
> malevolently and assisted varroa to spread into our country. Let us now face
> it - it is highly likely that there is no spot on earth where bees live that
> can be considered free of varroa.

We have the possibility of some idiot illegally importing bees and bringing in varroa.  We have the non-pathogenic variety to Apis mellifera to the north.  We have surveyed bees in Australia so can confidently say that we do not have varroa, either the pathogenic or non-pathogenic, on our mainland at present.

There are two other places that would say they do not have varroa and that is New Zealand and Hawaii.  They also have the possibilty of keeping varroa out but there is always the idiot factor.

Trevor Weatherhead
AUSTRALIA