BW>From: BLANE WHITE <[log in to unmask]> >Date: Tue, 26 Mar 1996 11:24:41 CST6CDT >Subject: Re: Importation of Bee Semen into the USA (What do you thin >Organization: Minnesota Dept of Agriculture >Other livestock breeding groups have addressed these issues and >developed mechanisms to allow limited importation maybe we need to >look at what they have done. Hi Blane & Bee Friends, Yes, there are risks to allowing the restricted or unrestricted importation of honeybees or honey bee semen into the US. I would suggest they are less today then in the past and in fact there are more reasons why off shore beekeepers should not want to import US bees then reasons for US beekeepers not being able to look for solutions to today's bee problems, today, from off shore sources. US beekeepers have had a "developed mechanism", under both current US Law and US Agriculture Regulation as amended to bring in honey bees for stock improvement, and it has not worked or better stated kept up with the needs of the industry. It is also reinforced by many state restrictions on bee imports. It is because this door is only open to the few, good people they may all be, and the world's best scientist's to, and the best skilled queen breeders, but the reality is this system has failed and continues to fail to serve the needs of the industry because so few can use it for what ever reason. And if it could be measured the numerous imports of stock and semen has not resulted in anything that can be called increased honey production, increased pollination efficiency, increased longevity of adult bees, or disease resistance or mite resistance in our honeybees. It has had value in increased knowledge, and that is good but hard to place a dollar value on. The exception to this is honest hard working but few beebreeders who have found some value in marketing the daughters of these few government imports at increased prices of course. Nothing wrong with that, but not one of these queen breeders can supply any one beekeeper with stock in numbers that is any more superior then the stock any experienced beekeeper could rear his/her self or purchase from another reliable bee breeder. The few can say with convention that their stock is the best, from government imported stock, can run big ads in the bee trade papers and sell lots of queens, but in the end the stock is no different then what someone else has without the benefit of the hype of government controlled imports. The real question is will this change beekeeping for the better if the bee importation laws are relaxed or even dumped. If history repeats itself, and I am one of those who believes that it does, it could. The bee industry in the United States was once before threatened with great and complete loss, (before my time). Bee's were disappearing because of a disease that could not be controlled in the US stock at the time. Beekeeping in America was going down the drain, beekeepers few as there was then were leaving hives, skepts, and bee gums empty. The feral hives, bee trees, were reduced or disappeared. The import door was then open and direct imports were made from the old world, yellow bees, the Italian bees won the day and in a few years everything was back to more or less normal. For sure other bees other then yellow or Italian, and bees with undesirable characteristics were also imported, some direct from Africa. This was not a problem that some will surely point out for today, or at least no record of a problem exists today from this open door to imports. Maybe it is because of the beekeepers themselves who weeded out the bad and increased the good strains, or more likely what we got from all that importations were survivors. Bee's that survived the trip, not easy in those days, and bee's that survived in the US bee yards, not so easy today....this day! Do I believe that we need to open the door to save the bee's in the US? No, I don't, but I believe and know that if something does not change fast there will be less beekeepers and if opening that bee importation door will help then it should be opened. And of grater concern is that there may be no or few feral honeybee populations, based on increasing reports, (though I am really not convinced that this is a new problem in the feral populations as it is something I have noted over the last forty years and may have no relationship to pests or disease), but it does remain a concern since so many are now reporting a reduction, to a complete collapse of feral honeybee populations. Most of these reports are not based on history, and are only valid observations at the time made. But for sure if this reduction continues then there will be no wild honeybees, but then there were none in California just a 100+ years ago when a swarm would sell for $100 gold. And it can be expected that when there are no honeybees in our hives there will be few in the bush, unless you wish to believe that the TexMex bees are going to replace the feral populations, but then there are laws and regulations preventing this, in fact the same one's that have prevented you and I from importing bee's. ttul Andy- Los Banos, Ca (c) Permission is granted to freely copy this document in any form, or to print for any use. (w)Opinions are not necessarily facts. Use at own risk. --- ~ QMPro 1.53 ~ What is not good for the swarm is not good for the bee