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Following the arrival of varroa at the Port of Newcastle, AgriFutures Australia commissioned research on how the industry should prepare for the possible establishment of varroa in Australia. A scientific group centred on the Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution (BEE) Lab at The University of Sydney produced a report, Resilient beekeeping in the face of varroa (Holmes et al., 2023). The report, published in January 2024, distilled current scientific knowledge about how varroa was being managed worldwide. The authors consulted scientific literature, bee researchers and beekeepers worldwide. The report made wide-ranging recommendations on the steps the Australian beekeeping industry should take to adapt to the presence of varroa in our country.

Major recommendations included that Australia must urgently undertake research to adapt international technologies for the control of varroa in our unique environment, and must press forward with new research that will help Australian beekeepers and pollination-dependent industries thrive in the post-varroa environment.

In April 2024, AgriFutures Australia sponsored a workshop involving 70 participants, including Australian bee researchers, industry leaders and relevant personnel from federal and state agriculture departments. This Varroa destructor research strategy 2024-2027, which arose from the workshop, is a consensus for future relevant, robust and industry-focused research that will help the Australian beekeeping industry transition to living with varroa. The Strategy provides a prioritised list of research areas from the most urgent to aspirational longer-term goals. Broad consultation was undertaken across the industry to ensure the Strategy contains research that will meet the needs of industry.