Bleak  Yes I would agree that things do look a little bleak
 for U.S. honeybees with continued importation of Canadian
honeybees fresh off
the airplane from New Zealand with the following
 honeybee  pests and diseases known to be on the N.Z.
honeybees.
 
Regarding Ted Fisher request for New Zealand Honeybee health report
 
 Mr. Cliff Van Eaton, Apiculture Advisory Officer
MAF Quality Management, Tauranga,New Zealand
 Wrote to bee-l and reported the following list of pest and disease
 known to exist on NZ honeybees 4/19/96
 
  1American Foul Brood
  2 Nosema
  3Chalkbrood
  4Sacbrood
  5 cronic bee paralysis
  6 black queen cell
  7 acute bee paralysis virus
  8 cloudy wing virus
  9 bee virus X
  10 bee virus Y
  11 filamentous virus
  12 KASHMIR BEE VIRUS
  13 Amoeba disease
       Mites
  14 Melittiphis alvearius
  15 Acarapis externus
  16 A. dorsalis
  17 Neocypholaelaps zealandicus
 
  And not reported by Cliff Van Eaton
 
 18. Melanoius found to be on NZ honeybees by Dr. T.P.Liu in Canada
 
Granted that all of the disease's are not being introduced to the
North American Continent for the first time and they are assuredly
spreading these pests around the U.S. and no one seems to care.
The BEE RESEARCH LABORATORY  ( BRL ) a part of the USDA
seems to have no interest in the spreading of the pests to America's
honeybees from sea to shinning sea .Much information has been
released by BRL this spring and summer as more and more people
have noticed the absence of honeybees in the United States and the
increase in honey prices due in part to the stellar losses experienced
by Canadian and US bee keepers from the two blood sucking mites
and no mention of the increased incidence of  Viruses and the truth
 that honeybees with mites and viruses have no chance for recovery,
or is this what our BS bee scientist leader at BRL wants to call
l a bad case of PMS?
      What kind of disaster is going to be needed to get the American
 beekeeper to wake up  and get organized and demand a reorganization
of the BEE RESEARCH LABORATORY. Sitting back and letting the
 status quo continue into the future is only going to let the problem get
bigger and bigger . The BRL has one person working on Viruses of
honeybees andI am told that the BRL has no opinion as to the origin of KBV
and I am  referred to Dr. Brenda Ball in England. The BRL has to date no
ability to test honeybees for KBV and they refer me to DR Anderson in Australia.
    I mean wait a minute  this is the United States of America that is having
to defer me to other countries for information that should be available to
the US beekeeper. Now I hear that Australia has requested to send their
 honeybees to the U S and the BRL seems to enamored with southern
 hemisphere honeybees.
      We need to get organized.
                                                                     Aloha
Walter Patton
 
Walter & Elisabeth Patton,  27-703 A Ka' ie'ie Rd., Papaikou HI.,96781
    Ph./Fax. 808-964-5401       E-Mail  hihoney@ilhawaii
 
Beekeeper and Bed  & Breakfast Owner in Hawaii
 
  http://www.alohamall.com/hamakua/hihoney.htm
http://www.alohamall.com/hamakua/beeware.htm
   http://www.alohamall.com/hamakua/lamalani.htm