News > Explained: Why Australia has had to kill millions of bees

Explained: Why Australia has had to kill millions of bees

In the last two weeks, Australian authorities have exterminated millions of honeybees in a bid to prevent a potentially devastating parasitic plague affecting the southeast region of the country. The recent outbreak of the deadly varroa mite poses a massive threat to the country’s multimillion-dollar honey industry.

Colonies of honeybees have been put under “lockdown” as part of a wide range of biosecurity measures to limit the outbreak.