westernsydneyu

The disease outbreak is due to a parasitic mite and the viruses it carries which have spread around the world and caused many honey bee losses.

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However, in Australia where we are, we are mite-free, the bees are healthy and the disease hasn't yet established. Australia is the only continent where the disease hasn't spread. But the greatest risk here is if the parasitic mite, varroa, becomes established in Australia and spreads disease. This is due to the great biosecurity that the country possesses but it may not last forever.

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To promote healthy bees, you can plant a wide variety of flowering species that flower throughout the entirety of the year. This will ensure that they'll have food all year round.

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Factors that caused this were moving bees all around the world, pesticide use and habitat loss making it harder for bees to live.

Here in Australia, it is impossible to say if or when the varroa mite and associated diseases will come to Australia but we have had several incursions of the mite and as a result, it is best to safeguard our pollination industry. Here at Western Sydney University, we are looking at alternative managed native Australian pollinators, stingless bees. It is also difficult to determine how varroa and its diseases will affect bees here in Australia. Some places like Hawaii, have seen an increase in annual losses but it is manageable with varroa control such as using chemicals to keep numbers down.

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It's very creepy! From a pollination angle, I can't imagine the cost and technology needed to create robot bees, would ever be feasible or worthwhile.

Hilarious as it is, we actually do take biosecurity VERY seriously!

Not a dumb question mrwaytoonice! In Australia, we are a large exporter of honey bees to the rest of the world. Because our bees don't have varroa, our bees are in high demand.

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The crops that rely upon pollination around the world typically rely upon honey bees, however within natural systems, native pollinators have co-evolved with native plants. Therefore, the degree to which plants have evolved with honey bees depends on the species.