Beekeepers called to action amid fears varroa complacency is threatening multi-billion-dollar industry

Varroa mites latch onto bees with their legs.(Supplied: Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry)

• The Queensland Beekeepers' Association is relaunching its varroa surveillance campaign
• It is concerned about complacency among hive owners
• Just 10 per cent of requested surveillance reporting has been completed

The Queensland Beekeepers' Association (QBA) is relaunching its varroa mite surveillance campaign, warning the future could be "catastrophic" for Australia's multi-billion-dollar honey industry unless all apiarists take part in a national biosecurity blitz. 
QBA secretary Jo Martin said the response to prove that Queensland was still varroa mite-free was "ringing alarm bells".
"We really don't have a lot of confidence in the results that we're currently sitting on in the system," Ms Martin said.
Ms Martin said she had experienced sleepless nights over the fact that just 10 per cent of voluntary hive surveillance work had been officially completed in Queensland.
Reports from just 5,000 of the 50,000 hives that Biosecurity Queensland was hoping to have mapped have been lodged with the Bee 123 online form and app, or the 13 25 23 hotline.

"This is a significant call to action," Ms Martin said of the re-launch of the campaign in the battle against the world's worst honeybee parasite.
Australia's honeybee industry was officially valued at more than $14 billion last year.
Apiarists estimated it was worth more than $20 billion, taking honey production, crop pollination services, and medicinal and cosmetic products into account.
Beekeepers are required to conduct alcohol washes at least 16 weeks apart and report results to their respective state  governments.(Supplied: NSW Department of Primary Industries)
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First detected in the Port of Newcastle's sentinel hives in June, new infestations of varroa destructor mite were uncovered last month in NSW's Hunter, Central Coast and Mid North Coast regions.
They were traced back to hives moved from the initial infection zone.
"We had the same problem about guys not wanting to report their findings," NSW Apiarists' Association president Steve Fuller said of the initial response in his state.