Steve Noble wrote:
>Rury, The exact axiom that you are trying to show here is not exactly clear
>to me.  If it is that moving bees results in moving their pathogens, then
>yes that is obvious.

The whole issue is a non-starter. If a stationary beekeeper wanted to
make a case against interstate bee movement, he would have to prove 1)
that he would somehow benefit from the non-movement of bees and that
2) his benefit is so significant that it would outweigh the damage to
the migratory beekeepers AND to the rest of us who are served by those
same beekeepers.

If it could be shown that a given pathogen would work its way through
the bee population even if bees were not transported and regardless of
quarantines then his case evaporates. If it could be shown that his
group's economic impact in slight in comparison to that of the much
larger group (migratory beekeepers and people who benefit from their
services), then his case is null.

> Following the find of a single varroa mite in Maryland in 1979, the Division of Plant Industry and H.L. Cromroy, University of Florida, made an inspection of Florida bees in 1984. The varroa mite was not found at that time, but in 1987 it was detected in Wisconsin and Florida. It remains unknown how or when the varroa mite was introduced into the continental U.S.A. In Florida, the varroa mite has been found on flower feeding-insects Bombus pennsylvanicus, Palpada vinetorum, and Phanaeus vindex. Although the varroa mite cannot reproduce on other insects, its presence on them may be a means by which it spreads short distances.

VARROA RULE--WHAT HAPPENED?

The proposed Varroa rule published in the Federal Register on March
16, 1989 was abruptly withdrawn by APHIS on April 13. According to Dr.
Eric Mussen, the following is his analysis of what really happened:

> APHIS was very much involved in the northern and central California medfly eradication program and the Africanized bee eradication program around Bakersfield a few years ago. So why are the bee mite problems different?

> In simplest terms, the beekeeping industry is too mobile to control. That statement may not be accepted by long time honey producers and noncommercial beekeepers who keep their hives on a single location 12 months of the year. That type of beekeeper requested protection from having mites brought into their areas and the state regulatory personnel are doing their best to provide protection. But the bigger picture involves the need for honey bees in commercial crop pollination. While a few states, like California, have much greater demands for bees than most other states, some commercial pollination occurs in all states.

> The source of the bees is the interesting part of the story. Communications that I have had with people in eastern states suggest that out-of-state, migratory beekeepers provide pollination services in many states where there are more than enough "local" bees in the neighborhood to get the job done. The resident beekeepers simply have neither the equipment nor the desire to move their hives to the orchards. Since our agricultural industry, nationwide, depends so heavily on highly migratory beekeeping operations, it proved to be impossible to regulate the spread of the mites by quarantine and eradication.

> So the intended regulations are history, and it is obvious that the federal government probably will stay out of the bee pest and disease eradication business from now on. Remember that it is the state of destination (or states that are passed through to get there) and not the state of origin of a load of bees that determines the critera for letting out-of-state bees into that state. It is up to the regulatory personnel in the state of origin to certify the bees using the state of destination's criteria.

sources

creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/misc/bees/varroa_mite.htm

APIS Volume 7, Number 6, June 1989, M.T. Sanford

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