Hi All

Not exactly replying to any particular point here, but I throw in another
reason why some countries would not want to accept American bee stock.

Something close to my heart is genetic and allelic diversity... In UK we
have a natural background of bees with a history of around 10,000 years in
our geographic location.

This broad based gene pool has been modified somewhat over the last 180
years or more, by imports and selective breeding.

Genetic diversity in US is lower, because of the limited number of original
lines (allbeit a large figure) that have been imported over the last 500
years.

This paucity of alleles is further reduced by modern breeding projects that
are 'quick and dirty' with little or no attention to 'quality control'.

We in UK and mainland Europe are attempting to retain the biodiversity
levels that we have fallen to and even increase or re-establish them if
possible, but bringing in US stock would dilute and/or displace some of our
natural diversity.

I have no objection to bee trade across frontiers from a commercial point of
view, although transmission of pests and diseases is a problem that must be
seriously addressed, but I do not like the idea of importation from a region
of lower genetic diversity into one that is richer in that resource.

I think it probable that a case could be made for a one way bee transmission
from Europe to USA (for genetic reasons), but I would hate to be the
politician that tried to implement it. I think a similar case could be made
for Australia and New Zealand.

Any long distance bee imports/exports should be kept at arms length with
quarantine on a suitable island for perhaps several seasons. That way any
'lurking' pests or diseases could be discovered before contaminating a
continent.

Best Regards & 73s, Dave Cushman, G8MZY
Beekeeping and Bee Breeding Website
http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
BEE-L subscribers are reminded to read and follow the
guidelines for posting, which are available online at:
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::