Diagnostics for Varroa - Webinar by National Varroa Mite Management Program Webinar - 1 August 2024

The National Varroa Mite Management Program are hosting a webinar to share the experiences and learnings from managing the diagnostics processes during the Varroa mite emergency response.  

Varroa (destructor) mite was first detected in NSW in June 2022, activating what became the largest Australian multi-agency plant biosecurity emergency response, running for around 20 months until the February 2024 decision to move to transition to management of the mite. 

During the emergency response, extensive hive surveillance activities generated massive diagnostic workloads for the NSW DPIRD laboratories – within a 12 month period around 20,000 sticky mats were submitted to be checked for mites, along with many submissions of other sample types.  The emergency response required results to be quick, clearly documented and verified for both positive detections which resulted in hive euthanasia and in some instances compliance implications, as well to confirm the absence of mites in samples from apiaries to allow critical pollination services to be delivered to growers.  

NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development Diagnostic Technician David Britton will talk about what worked well and the lessons learnt to continue to improve these critical diagnostics processes in the future.  

When: Thursday 1 August, 11am - 12pm (AEST)

This webinar is FREE to attend and will be recorded.

Link to join the webinar will be provided to registered attendees.