>But if honey bee importation from Australia is halted, as we have felt it
>should be from the beginning, the push for bees from somewhere else will
>intensify. Mention has been made of bees from Mexico or from Canada. The
>negotiations and dealing to make either of those work will be interesting
>to watch.

has the Canadians on the list heard of talks on letting Canada bees into
almonds? I thought not!
The reality is the need for bees in almonds can not be filled by Canada
bees. Not a lot to gain from letting the Canada bees in.

>If African bees from Mexico are allowed to come to the U.S., will they
>cause problems in orchards?

A moog point as under WTO rules we have AHb bees in California and have had
for a very long time. AHB will not keep the Mexican bees out.

>Will they come as colonies and return, or as packages and simply stay here
>like the bees from OZ?

They will come any way those sending want to send when the border is opened.

The whole thing is a scam as the small amount of packages from OZ would
never had been enough to keep pace with demand. Actually the falling dollar
has about stopped U.S. beekeepers from buying OZ packages. A hundred thirty
a package is a bit steep. Especially when you can buy a package in Mexico
for fifteen bucks and queens for less than a dollar.

I love Mexico's queen import system. Bees from every part of the world can
enter Mexico and then be sent north into the U.S.. The drug cartels will
love hiding drugs in loads of bees.

The first step in opening the Mexico import was shutting down the OZ import.
Shutting down the OZ import was led by the California queen and package
industry( with those beekeepers seeing the chance to cash in in the
background)..

I am too close to the issue to comment further but a few commercial
beekeepers are going to make millions and soon control almond pollination.
The California queen and package industry will suffer big time. The gold
mine will end for many doing almond pollination. Almond growers are all for
opening the Mexican border as will mean cheap bees.

>But would any of them actually want to come to Almond country and take the
>CCD gamble?

Give me a break. The average beekeeper in Mexico makes about a dollar a day.
$140-150 a hive in almonds. You can buy top quality hives in Mexico for less
than $20 a hive!

>But the biggest question of all...Will there be enough U.S. bees next
>spring to meet the needs of the Almond Industry?

The biggest question is will U.S. beekeepers drop their prices to compete
with Mexican bees? Depending on how fast the border is opened I may have
sent my last hives to almonds

>These scenarios bring out the good, the bad and the ugly side of all of
>this. Please stay tuned, the outcome will affect your beekeeping and honey
>packing business this season.

At least we can agree on the above point!

I predicted the above would happen years ago on BEE-L(in the archives) . I 
was told  the OZ import would happen and was told that later the OZ border
would close opening the way for the Mexican border to open.

>APHIS reconsidered the potential risk that imported Australian honey bees
>may pose of introducing new pests and diseases to honey bees in the U.S.
>Based on the continuing spread of a non-native bee (Apis cerana) in
>Australia and the uncertainties about what new viral diseases it may be
>spreading among bee populations in Australia, APHIS believes honey bee
>imports from Australia pose an unacceptable risk of introducing new
>diseases in the United States.

Yawn.

Beekeeping history will say if the above was best for U.S. beekeeping.

Those beekeepers which brought in the Mexican beekeepers to the last to
national meetings  stand to make millions. The queen & package industry will
never recover as they simply can not compete with Mexican prices.

I have heard plenty about opening the Mexico border ( last few yars) but 
have not heard a
single beekeeper interested in opening the Canada border?

Its too late now for California beeks to stop. Mexican hives are coming
into almonds.


bob

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