The Eagleton producer has 15 hives and makes a range of honey and other products that she sells across the Hunter Region, including at the Slow Food Earth Market Maitland in The Levee.

Yesterday she told The Mercury she was concerned about the outbreak, which was detected in biosecurity surveillance hives at the Port of Newcastle on Friday.

A few hours later the 10 kilometre eradication zone around the Port of Newcastle was extended to include Eagleton as well as Hinton, parts of Clarence Town, Duns Creek, Wallalong and Duckenfield.

That happened after the mite was detected in hives at Seaham and Bulahdelah. The Bulahdelah outbreak now has its own 10km eradication zone in place.

Up until then Ms Sandstrom had been within the 25 kilometre surveillance zone.

"It has reached our shores previously in Queensland and in Victoria but it hasn't hit us too hard in NSW until now," she said.

"Overseas the mite is managed well but it would have great impacts in Australia. I'm hoping that they've got it and that these tactics are going to work.

"Hopefully everyone has done the sugar shake and done their checks and hopefully everyone who has a beehive has come forward and registered the location of their hives because it only takes one bee to make this the same as everywhere else in the world."

Under the restrictions there is to be no movement of bees and bee equipment within NSW and beekeepers must not manipulate their hives.

The mite sucks the life out of honey bees and spreads quickly. The species is particularly vulnerable to it, although the mite is managed in other countries.

Related: Beeline to halt varroa mite outbreak

Ms Sandstrom said the mite had already devastated part of the local beekeeping industry and it would be a long road to recovery.

"I'm feeling concerned about all of the beehives that have been eradicated and I'm concerned for the owners and their businesses in Newcastle because they have been drastically affected," she said.

Her honey picked up two ribbons at this year's Sydney Royal Easter Show in the liquid honey on eucalyptus and creamed honey in small producer categories.

"Please remember to support your local beekeeper and buy local honey, it's better for you," she said.

Ms Sandstrom urged all beekeepers to register the location of their hives.

Beekeepers Kelly Lees and Anna Scobie, who own the popular honey business Urban Hum which used to be part of the earth market in Maitland, has also been affected.

The Newcastle-based business has 90 hives and all of them had to be destroyed.

Ms Lees, who is also a bee educator at Tocal Agricultural College, has been seconded to be part of the response to the outbreak.

"I will sit with my bees and say goodbye. A honey bee colony is all about the health of the whole colony, not the individual bee, the bee network across the nation needs our help it is about the whole Australian Honey Bee Industry, not our individual hives," Ms Scobie wrote on Facebook.

If you have bee hives located within any of the biosecurity zones please call 1800 084 881, complete this form or email hive.location@emergency.dpi.nsw.gov.au.

For more information visit www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/varroa

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