Hello All,
Plenty of AHB in the LA area. In fact the website for removel of feral 
swarms for LA county said last year 80% tested AHB.

Not to worry as the State of California assures its residents that AHB will 
not keep moving three hundred miles a year north and stay on the Mexican 
side of the border!

California wants to keep a lid on the AHB as its the *only* reason they 
have been able to keep Mexican beekeepers out of the almond groves.

Plenty of small hive beetle in California also. 

California package producers want to keep a lid on the problem also. The 
reason has to do with Canada and the movement north illegally of packages.

Did the list know small hive beetle origin can be found out by dna? The 
hive beetle found in Canada when tested by dna did not come from Australia.
Opps!

In Australia you can not shake packages from hives with even a single SHB 
and there can not be hives with a SHB find within 30 km from the hives the 
bees are taken from.

Sure a SHB might come in but so far none of the pallets shipped have had 
the load marked as having SHB on board.  

In the U.S. however you can shake SHB into packages without a problem. 
Hobby beeks blame the migratory beekeeper (which is OK as most have got 
broad shoulders) but the spread into most areas came from packages ( 
documented into Missouri from Georgia packages).

In 1987 varroa was first found in packages ( a truck load of packages) 
which were not destroyed but sold to beekeepers. Varroa was going to happen 
so I would not have destroyed those packages either. 



 

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