$15k punt: varroa forces farmers to gamble their future

Do they plant pumpkins and watermelons in spring - amid the pollination challenges brought on through the state government's varroa mite eradication plan - or should they forget it?

It's a $15,000 farming roulette and there's no guarantee how many pollinators - if any - will be around to get to work when the vines start flowering in October.

The dilemma is playing heavily on their minds and time is running out. The cut off to order the seedlings is almost here and those crops are their main source of income.

"What do we do? Do we take a gamble and see what happens? Will we have any bees around in October? We don't know what to do, but we have to make a decision soon," Matthew said.

Their East Maitland farm is within the NSW Department of Primary Industries' red zone and baiting is taking place to kill any remaining honey bees.

Matthew wants the department to put sentinel European honey bee hives on his farm so he can pollinate his crops. He said the hives could be checked regularly for varroa mite and euthanised if it was found.

His call comes after 70 per cent of their usual pumpkin and watermelon yield was wiped out last season thanks to a lack of pollination. Even planting flowers to attract alternate pollinators didn't work very well.

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He might resort to dressing up in a bee suit and using a paintbrush to hand pollinate, but admits doing that over acres of ground isn't possible.

The Dennis' haven't had any communication from the DPI, yet a spokeswoman told The Mercury it was working with everyone who had been affected through the National Management Group (NMG).

The spokeswoman said AUSVEG sat on the NMG and represented vegetable growers.

"If there is a view from them that farmers need compensation, advice on planting or hand pollination lessons it is the responsibility of AUSVEG to put forward that possibility," she said.

The spokeswoman did not say where the plan to put sentinel hives on farms was up to - or if it was even considering it.

Instead, she said native beehives could be used as they weren't affected by the varroa mite or the baiting program.

Matthew said native bees weren't thorough pollinators and were hard to buy.

Their current pumpkin supply will run dry within two months and that's going to hit the Slow Food Earth Market Maitland hard, which is usually brimming with pumpkins right through winter and into spring.

Market chairwoman Amorelle Dempster is pushing the state government to do more to support vegetable production. She says the department isn't doing enough and has shared that opinion with Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison.

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Ms Dempster said the DPI isn't being transparent enough about the baiting program. She is concerned other pollinators will perish because of the baiting system.

The DPI are placing Fipronil bait stations within 10 kilometres of each place where varroa mite was detected. Baiting began last year and trained staff are supervising the stations.

Baiting is currently taking place at Seaham and Vacy, the Central Coast and Nana Glen.

"We need the DPI to be more transparent, we need those sentinel hives on farms in October and we need to support our farmers at this time in particular - a time that they need our help and support to continue making our food," Ms Dempster said.

"I've told Jenny that we need this, that our local food security depends on it and she has promised to look into it."

The spokeswoman said the baiting stations had been designed to only attract European honey bees.

"These stations are constructed to exclude non-target animals and insects - including native bees," she said.

"During active use feeder stations are monitored by NSW DPI to prevent impacts on non-target species."

Mr Dennis said nobody from DPI had even offered to provide lessons in hand pollination and it was still unclear just how long the farm would be without honey bees.

"We're facing a big gamble and if we don't plant pumpkins and watermelons this year will it be any different next year?," he said.