Hello Jim & All,
The last point I will make is one I made at the start of the import.  If any
further inspection needs done then Aphis has always had the right to send an
inspector to Australia to see that our interests are protected. Without a
doubt the best way.

The first Browns Bees pallet to arrive cost Bell Hill Honey forty plus
thousand dollars. Those bees belonged to Bell Hill Honey upon arrival. At
times it takes needless hours to get the package bees released from the
airport/customs. You need a broker and several beekeepers have said they had
to use cash to get the process done.

Package bees are fragile and need installed on arrival. In Sidney before
shipment they are
kept in a airport cooled area. Cooled in the airplane cargo hold enroute.
When at the airport on arrival they are fragile. Sit on a hot dock area.
They belong at that point
to the beekeeper!

 There is no insurance! There is no insurance. Did you understand that the
pallet/pallets belong to the beekeeper and not covered for loss by the
airline or shipper. However Terry brown has made good on overheated loads
when the problem has happened but is not required to in the agreement.

Aphis understands the issue but has not felt the need to send a USDA
inspector to Australia. *If* Jim feels the process is not to his liking then
he needs to understand the issue and push for APHIS to send an inspector to
Australia during the package season. End of problem!

I personally will lead the fight to stop end arrival airport inspections and
holdups.
APHIS has always had the right to inspect after the package bees leave the
airport and are in the field. However most beekeepers work all night
installing the packages to prevent drift and get the bees into hives (see
pictures in several of my articles ).

I think Jim if the moderators felt I was attacking your character the post
would have not went through! I would not attack your character but maybe
your ego!

 I do feel you can't write about a subject you are not involved with which
is the reason you can always tell the bee article written by freelance
authors which only research on the net or prior writings. Bee books have
been written by authors which have never seen the inside of a bee hive such
as the "garden way" series.

Australia & New Zealand have got the best (my opinion) bee inspection people
and the most pest free populations of bees.

News flash!
We have been trying for a long time to export queens through the Australian
queen import system but U.S. queens are banned for entry into Australia
because we have no way of certifying U.S. genetics are AHB free. We have
tried to use the USDA-ARS systems to prove those queens are AHB free but
Australia has strict guidelines. Will not accept the USDA-ARS method of
certify those queens are AHB  free

I believe the gene pool in the U.S. needs new genetics to help build our
bees immune systems. We have already seen improvement in our bees with the
Australian genetics of Browns Bees. We have been able to import genetics
into the U.S. which originated in the U.K. (buckfast), varroa tolerant
(Italy) and the best of the Australian line. Already here so even if the
import was stopped we have got those genetics and you will see in the
pictures in my December ABJ the result of those genetics. Hybrid vigor has
been easy. My breeder queens this spring will be Australian.

Poor brood viability is common from many U.S. queen producers bees (
certainly not all!).

" Beekeeping for the 21st. Century" was an ABJ article of mine from years
ago and I dreamed of new genetics back then. Now we have got the genetics
and are seeing the result!

Sincerely,
Bob Harrison


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