Late last year, the New South Wales government announced an additional A$9.5 million in funding to support honeybee keepers in the wake of the 2022 arrival and subsequent spread of the Varroa mite.

Varroa mites attack honeybee larvae, reducing and even destroying entire colonies. This impacts honey production and the crop pollination services provided by honeybees.

However, the honeybee is not native to Australia. It’s an introduced species that has routinely escaped hives and gone feral, negatively impacting our native animals and biodiversity in general.

The new funding follows $58.4 million already spent by the NSW government in relation to the Varroa mite. It’s part of an ongoing trend of millions being spent on this exotic bee and pollination services to exotic crops, while largely neglecting the native plant-pollinator interactions that existed prior to European colonisation.

While some government and non-government funding is starting to look into alternative pollinators, thousands of Australian bee species and other native pollinators don’t enjoy nearly the same support as European honeybees. Native biodiversity is on the brink – but there’s work we can do to stop........

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