As of July 2026, varroa has been detected in every mainland state on Australia's east coast and is continuing to spread inland and west. This is the fourth and final article in our Varroa Stories series, which asked 14 Australian beekeepers to share what varroa has taught them. The response was too large for one article, so the series is four pieces: an overview hub, plus three grouped features. Article 2 covered backyard beekeepers. Article 3 covered small-business, sideliner and community beekeepers. This one covers two beekeepers at the geographic frontier: Kahleea in remote North West Queensland (varroa has not reached her yet, but she has been preparing) and Steve in the Adelaide Hills (South Australia's first year with detected varroa).
Their answers, in their own words, published with their permission.
Kahleea Paul, Julia Creek, Queensland: "I placed my hives in the front yard so the community could see them when they drive past"
Kahleea runs 3 Langstroth hives in her front yard in Julia Creek, remote North West Queensland. She has been running her own hives for under a year, but has worked for two years behind the scenes at a bee education company, learning from experienced beekeepers around the country. She is the only beekeeper in town, and she has placed her hives at the front of the property deliberately.
"I'm the only beekeeper in town. I placed them there so the community could see them when they drive past."
Varroa has not reached her hives. She first heard about it when it arrived in Australia, and her understanding grew after she started her bee education job.
"At first it felt like something happening somewhere else, but the more I learned, the more I realised it would eventually affect all of us."
Two months ago she spent two weeks in Brisbane with her boss and mentor learning how to do varroa checks and treatments. That trip is why she is one of the most valuable voices in this whole series. She was there for the part most Australian beekeepers still have ahead of them.
"Seeing colonies weakened and even helping burn hives that couldn't be saved really drove home how important monitoring and preparation are. Since then I've made it my goal to learn as much as I can before it eventually reaches us."
She is not monitoring her own hives yet, because varroa is still a long way from her. But she has trained in alcohol washes and sticky boards and plans to incorporate them into regular inspections soon, so they become second nature before she actually needs them. She has watched Bayvarol strips and oxalic acid treatments applied at her mentor's site, and is interested in queen caging as part of an IPM approach.
"My goal is to understand all the tools available and have a plan before I ever need to use one."
Her biggest surprise, watching varroa unfold across the eastern states while her own hives stay clean:
"How quickly things can change. A colony can look healthy one week and be under pressure the next. It's also reminded me that varroa doesn't discriminate, it affects beginners and experienced beekeepers alike, doesn't matter your experience."
Her mistake-to-warn-about goes straight at everyone reading this who still thinks varroa is someone else's problem:
"Waiting until varroa arrives before learning about it. There's so much knowledge available now, and I'd encourage people to start preparing before they ever find their first mite."
Her advice to someone about to detect their first mite is the calmest in the entire series:
"Don't panic. I'd be reaching out to experienced beekeepers straight away, following the advice available and taking it one step at a time. Make a plan, keep monitoring my hives, and remember I don't have to figure it all out on my own. There's a huge beekeeping community that's willing to help, and asking for support is one of the best things you can do."
Kahleea closes with a line all new beekeepers should tape to the inside of their smoker case:
"Every experienced beekeeper was once a beginner."
Steve, Adelaide Hills, SA: "5 mites. It was a shock, but also a relief"
Steve has been beekeeping nine years. He runs 4 hives: two in his urban Adelaide Hills backyard, two more on a nearby hobby farm. He is the only voice from South Australia in this series, and his story is one of the few that most Australian beekeepers, if they treat well, may actually get to have.
He first heard about varroa in June 2022 when the Newcastle incursion was reported, and was, in his words, "very concerned as was aware of the damage it had done overseas." He detected varroa in one of his two hobby-farm hives via alcohol wash. Five mites.
"It was a shock but it was also a relief as I could clearly see the mites. I was worried they'd be too small to see but they were quite obvious due to their shape. PIRSA were very good once I notified. They talked me through what I needed to do and provided the treatment and some other gear."
That is a rare framing in this series, and worth naming. Steve is the only respondent whose state government primary industries department (PIRSA) stepped in with hands-on advice and physical supplies once he confirmed. That partnership shaped the rest of his season.
PIRSA provided Bayvarol. When Steve first tested his two hobby-farm hives, only one came back positive with the 5 mites — the second was clear. Before starting treatment, he re-tested the negative hive and found 1 mite. On PIRSA's advice to treat all hives at the site regardless of numbers, he treated both. An alcohol wash at the end of the 8-week treatment came back with no varroa present in either hive.
He has since changed all his bottom boards to ventilated bases so he can install sticky mats easily. Winter now: he is aiming for a monthly alcohol wash plus sticky mat monitoring.
What surprised him most about his first year of managing varroa is the single most underrated fact in this whole series:
"The treatment was very easy."
That is the whole quote. Steve's story is here in this article not to soften what the other 13 have told us, but to sit alongside them as a reminder: if you catch it early and you treat with the right tool, this is what it looks like on the other side.
His mistake-to-warn is short:
"You will need to regularly check your hives to keep on top of the mites."
His advice to the next Australian beekeeper about to detect their first mite is the mature-perspective quote of the series:
"It was bound to happen at some point, and the sooner you learn to manage mites, the easier it will be when reinfestation from dead wild hives ramps up."
What Kahleea and Steve share
Different states, different starting points, different everything. But both stories point in the same direction, and it is the direction the other 12 respondents have told us to walk in too.
- Learn before you need to. Kahleea did this by training with a Brisbane mentor before varroa reached NWQ. Steve did this by staying alert from June 2022 onwards and putting a monitoring routine in place before he had a mite to find.
- The alcohol wash finds it. Both use it. Steve found his first 5 mites with one.
- The right treatment, applied early, works. Steve went from 5 mites to zero in 8 weeks on Bayvarol. This is possible.
- State support matters. Steve's experience with PIRSA is a good reference for beekeepers in newly-affected states. If you detect, notify.
- Community first. Kahleea placed her hives at the front of the property so her town could see them. Every beekeeper we spoke to eventually named the community factor as the hardest and most important part of managing varroa.
More Varroa Stories
- Article 1, Overview (Hub): Varroa in Australia: what 14 beekeepers have learned
- Article 2, Backyard beekeepers: Six Australian hobbyists share what they learned
- Article 3, Small business and community beekeepers: Six Australian operators share what they learned
If you're just starting to manage varroa
- Our full range of varroa monitoring and treatment products
- The Australian Honey Bee Industry Council chemical treatment table
- Randy Oliver's Scientific Beekeeping, cited by Geoff in Article 2
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