The Department has been conducting tracing to identify hive movements.  Three locations have been identified outside of the 50km emergency zone connected to the commercial operation detected with mites within the original zone.  One of these loads was near Dubbo, no mites were detected, however due to the high risk this load of bees was destroyed, as previously advised.

Another site which is approximately 65km north east of the original detection was inspected by DPI and industry representatives.  Alcohol washes on every hive resulted in the detection of two mites across the whole load.  In response to this low-level detection a new Infected Premise (IP) response has been initiated, with a new 10km eradication zone, 25km surveillance zone and 50km buffer zone determined.  This has resulted in the update of the DPI emergency zone map tonight.

This new detection is outside the 50km original zone, but is directly connected to the commercial operation.  Whilst it is of concern that there is a new detection, it is an extremely low-level detection and connected to the same operation.  The Incident Management Team is still confident that eradication is achievable, and every effort will continue to be made to ensure we eliminate this incursion.

The map has also been updated with a number of other detections of mites in hives in the original emergency zone.

VIST DPI NSW FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND UPDATES