The varroa bee mite is on the march south,  with the latest reports revealing infected hives now in Queenstown and Central Otago.

The bee-killing mite reached the top of the South Island in 2006.

Efforts to contain it in Nelson and Marlborough were abandoned in late 2008, when the mite turned up in North Canterbury.

Federated Farmers Bees Industry Group Co-Chairman John Hartnell  says the latest incursion in Queenstown was directly related to an infected hive taken  to the region from Christchurch.