PUMPKINS, squash, zucchini, apples and pears are among the foods whose production could be endangered once the varroa mite arrived in Australia, a bee expert predicted.
A spokesman for Illawarra Beekeepers Association of NSW, Doug Purdie, was speaking after recent overseas media coverage about threats to bees.
Reports from Europe showed the mite had caused bee populations to decline, with pesticides in the USA having similar effects on bee numbers there.
"It (the introduction of the mite) is not a matter of if it happens here, it is a matter of when," Mr Purdie said.
"Border control is one way to help prevent the problem.
"There can also be bee swarms on ships."
Bees died off as a result of their contact with the mite, leaving fewer bees to pollinate vegetation, he said.
Mr Purdie's concerns are borne out by results of research from last year carried out jointly by the University of Sydney's School of Biological Sciences and the Agricultural Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture.
The study found that all seven types of Australian bees were susceptible to the mite.
The mites suck the bees' blood, leaving them more likely to fall prey to disease.
The Illawarra Beekeepers Association has hives in Sutherland and members in St George and Sutherland Shire, including treasurer Ivan MacMillan of Engadine, who took up beekeeping during his part-time retirement but had become "bitten by the bug".
Association secretary Geoff Henning, 69, of Bonnet Bay, said the varroa mite would cause devastation here.
"It's likely the first impact will be on feral colonies, in trees," he said.
"It will wipe these out.
"It's hard to say what the whole impact will be."
What can Australia do to avoid the ravages of the varroa mite?