How Do You Lock Down a Bee?

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Every year in australia, the and industry alone moves 300 thousand bee hives. bees are moved across the country because they're used to polinate this huge range of different crops that are growing. So i assume these lock downs are going to be pretty serious. Yes, absolutely.

The varroa mite, a deadly honeybee parasite, has finally found its way into Australia. Varroa destructor affects every other major beekeeping area in the world, damaging honeybees and transmitting viruses across hives. Now, in a fight to contain the mite, the state of New South Wales has destroyed 1,533 infected hives and implemented a statewide standstill on bee movement. Madeleine Finlay speaks to Dr Cooper Schouten, a beekeper and researcher, about why the mite poses such a threat to honeybees, what it means to put bees into lockdown, and what impacts this biosecurity breech could have.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod