AD>Here in Alberta, Canada, there is presently a move afoot to try to
  >obtain imports of US mainland bee stock via packages by attempting to
  >have the current border closure to US mainland bees  set aside.
 
Hi Allen,
 
Is this the annual effort or a serious question of change?
 
AD>One arguement against free access to cheap California packages and
  >queens is that is that some package buyers will revert to running the bees
  >one season, and gassing them in the fall, rather than wintering.
  >Many (all) currently successful beekeepers winter their bees.  Since
  >running packages is more of a box keeping business than beekeeping,
  >they are expected to have a lower level of skill and knowledge (THis
  >was the case in the past).
 
California packages are no longer cheep as most marginal bee breeders
are no longer in business and all inputs to making package have
increased in price.
 
AD>The thought is that the packages are virtually certain to contain
  >varroa that left untreated -- or gassed poorly or late -- will
  >destroy the efforts of those who do not currently have varroa, or who
  >do and who treat their hives, and are in the neighbourhood. Moreover
  >these less knowledgeable  beekeepers might well  decide to overwinter
  >packages that have not been treated and fail repeatedly  with
  >expensive effects on the more prudent neighbours.
 
I am sure there is risk. If you  only opened the boarder to queens
for a year at a time you may be able to limit the risk if the buyers
were aware and watchful. But there is always's risk. Having tab's in
the queen cages and strips in the packages can give you some assurance
of few or no mites depending on the bee breeder you purchase them from.
I have not heard any horror stories about buyers of California packages
getting their bees home and finding mites, but I am sure there could
bee some around and I have just missed them.
 
AD>Moreover, it is thought that the US package producers have had
  >trouble in recent years supplying even their domestic market in a
  >timely fashion, and that opening the border would inflate the price
  >of bees to both US and Canadian beekeepers to the point where the
  >price becomes about the same as we are paying for bees from
  >Australia and New Zealand anyhow.
 
As far as I know these problems are weather related and with bee
breeding sometimes it is better to get them late then get them with
a queen that has not been fully mated. I do think with the high cost
of transportation and the higher cost of queens and packages it would
need some study to see if it's cost effective. Sure is a fast way to
set up a lot of hives for that 200# crop of $1.00 honey.
 
AD>What are the thoughts of those on the list?
 
This is a political and economic problem for Canadian's and one that
right or wrong they all will have to live with.
 
I do think there is hope, and reports of mite free bees are starting
to filter through the hysteria of the chemical fog. I suspect that in
time (maybe a long time) for one reason or another beekeepers will find
their bees can live with the mites. It may be that a level is reached
that is tolerable to the hive, but then I don't believe the whole story
is in the damage the varroa mite does anyway. If more and more
beekeepers start to report that they can control mites with stinking
oils then I believe the worst would have passed. It still amazes me that
NO one has been able to introduced say 10,000 or 100,000 vampire mites
into a healthy bee hive and record the loss of that hive. Also it
appears that in SA the mites do reach a low level of infestation and
have little or not effect on the bee hive. None of this should be
interpolated as a effort on my part to convince anyone not to treat.
 
Not to treat or even to change treatments can cost any beekeeper the
loss of his bees and is a risk most should not take. I am concerned that
beekeepers who are not having a problem are treating as in my mind this
is a tread mill that I had hoped in this life I would never see
beekeepers get on, considering the loss so many beekeepers have had from
farmers doing the same thing to protect themselves from a perceived
danger. It certainty must take a special beekeeper who is treating his
bee's for mites to lobby a farmer not to make a preventative treatment
to his crops if all else was equal and there only was a perceived danger
that the farmers treatment could cause harm to the bees which always
exists when using any chemical.
 
                         ttul Andy-
 
 
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---
 ~ QMPro 1.53 ~ Let the honey flow!!!!!