I have a good deal of respect for Andy and many of his opinions but I recognize that when it comes to regulatory agencies his viewpoint is rather extreme.  I am a hobby beekeeper and I am nominally a county bee inspector in Central California.  I do not have a uniform or a shiny badge or a gun.  Andy must be confusing us with the postal service.  I do not even inspect bees any more.  When the beekeepers successfully defeated the apiary assessment some years ago, that severely curtailed the program at the state and county levels.  When there was some state funding, which amounted to a fraction of the actual cost, we would spend a couple of weeks inspecting bees for AFB.  We would focus on abandoned apiaries and hobby beekeepers who were not properly caring for their bees.  I thought we were doing some good for the commercial beekeepers by removing these reservoirs of infection.  They did not want any help, thank you very much, so we don't do that any more.  The primary activities these days are maintaining a list of local beekeepers who will remove swarms for homeowners and doing a beekeeping display at the county fair to promote the value of apiculture.  About 3 years ago I made an apiary health certificate for a beekeeper moving his bees to a state that wanted them treated for Varroa.
 
There is no quarantine, secret or otherwise.  Some traps are maintained at ports where ships from South America could dock.  When swarms are rarely found at ports of entry they are destroyed.  That is sensible.  It makes no sense to try to stem the movement of AHB genes or mites in the feral population.  You might as well quarantine the wind.  Swarms are being trapped to monitor the spread of AHB in Imperial, Riverside and San Diego counties.  When it reaches more populated areas of Southern California there are some obvious public health issues to deal with.  The actual threat is less than the perceived threat, IMHO, as people have an innate fear of stinging arthropods and the news media will make the most of the story.  The beekeepers are on their own, no regulatory official is checking for AHB in commercial hives, as far as I know.  If you want mean bees, have at them.  Liability issues should take care of that.
 
Some beekeepers have bitter memories of the mite quarantines and I don't blame them.  On the whole, quarantines against harmful pests and diseases are very cost effective.  As long as you keep the bad organisms out you do not have to treat for them and you can continue to export commodities to countries that are free of those pests.  
 
Bob Roach