The hive of about 5,000 bees along with two varroa mites, which were detected on two of the bees, were destroyed by staff from the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources.

Mr Weatherhead said testing will be done to see if the bees had any relationship to Asian honey bee populations that were already present in areas of far north Queensland.

“Or bees that were associated with previous detections at the Townsville Port, with the last detection having occurred in 2014,” he said.

Read more here: Bee-killing varroa mites found in Port of Townsville nest