Australia will cease efforts to eradicate varroa mites and transition to management of the deadly bee parasite.

About 30,000 hives have been euthanased by authorities since varroa mite was detected 15 months ago in sentinel hives at the Port of Newcastle.

The $132 million varroa response plan was the largest biosecurity outbreak in the country's history, and until now, Australia had been the last continent to remain free of the parasitic mite.

The decision was made by the National Management Group on Tuesday night that it was no longer technically feasible to eradicate varroa mites and had entered a transition to the management phase.

The decision was made following reports of non-compliance on hive movement and testing and a spike in new detections across large areas.

The management group said NSW would operate under an interim strategy to limit the impacts and slow the spread of varroa mites while a revised response plan was being developed by the Consultative Committee on Emergency Plant Pests.

Varroa destructor is a small mite that attaches to bees and eats their "fat body".

The fat bodies of honey bees are the insect equivalent of a liver.

Varroa weakens bees, reduces their life span and increases the spread of deadly viruses.

Major changes

NSW Department of Primary Industries deputy director general of biosecurity and food safety, John Tracey, said the transition to management would focus on an immediate stand-down of mandatory eradication.

"It will establish programs to manage the movement and spread of varroa and will include some zones," he said.

The current red eradication zones in the Hunter, Central Coast and Kempsey will become management zones.

He said while the mandatory euthanasia of hives would cease, beekeepers in red zones could opt for voluntary euthansia and be eligible for compensation.

"There will be a focus on management solutions for mites in hives and for industry to build resilience and to support pollination services," he said.

"There will be free movement allowed within the management zones, there will be movement allowed between those existing management zones under secure conditions and there will also be an opportunity for movement under permit with certain conditions based on risk inside and out of that zone."

Dr Tracey said the department would make miticide strips available to beekeepers in management zones.

The strips kill the varroa mite without impacting bees.

Beekeepers across NSW will still be required to continue conducting alcohol washes every 16 weeks and reporting the results.

The Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC) has been calling for a transition to management in recent weeks.

Chief executive Danny Le Feuvre said the industry was looking for a balanced management plan.

"We need to find a way to minimise the impacts varroa mite's going to have [and] figure out a way of lifting the skill base of our beekeepers, educating them around the best management practice for managing varroa," he said.

Mr Le Feuvre said the AHIBC would be advocating for a recovery package to be built into any transition plan.

"We will advocate for our beekeepers to get the best deal we can, but we can't make any assurances that what we advocate for will be in that plan moving forward," he said.

Mr Le Feuvre said it would be up to other state and territory jurisdictions whether border restrictions are imposed.

He said the mite was unlikely to spread quickly and that monitoring would be a key part of the control plan.

"We're not expecting it to move like wildfire across the landscape, we have got time, we're not expecting that beekeepers are going to have to start implementing treatment strategies immediately — it will move slowly," Mr Le Feuvre said.

"So we need to make sure that we take our time to make sure that any plans that are put in place are sensible and practical … to make sure that our beekeepers can manage the mites moving forward."

Click on this link for further information from the NSW Department of Primary Industries.