I have to agree with Allen on the border issues between Canada and the
US.  It's useless to try and prevent the flow of bees either direction.
 I just made a trip to Vancouver, BC in Canada last week.  The customs
form going to Canada asks if you specifically have live bees with you.
The customs form for the US on my return asks the same thing.  These
forms obviously are asking this question so that if you answer
affirmative, they will confiscate the bees from you.  What a waste of
manpower, paper and time!  I thought that NAFTA was supposed to get us
over this trash.
 
As for Mexican bees, I'm not worried and I have much more at risk than
anyone in Canada.  The flood of "killer bees" just hasn't caused the
great problems that everyone was so afraid of.  I've traveled all over
Central and South America.  I've never been warned of "killer bees"
upon entering one of these countries.  I've never heard of a "killer
bee" massacre in one of these countries.  Of course, people die from
bee stings.  Some people are allergic to bee stings and they will die
after being stung.  Some of these people may intrude upon a hive, get
stung, die and cause an uproar about "killer bees".  I think we, as
beekeepers, need to temper these problems.  People who know I keep bees
ask me about the "killer bees" and I say I welcome them.  While they
may be a little more aggressive, they also introduce a new gene pool
that may actually strengthen beekeeping as we know it.  I also stress
that the hype is just that.  "Killer bees" are here.  They are not
causing massacres of people.  It's time to spread facts, not hype.
 
For some reason the they spread of these bees has stopped, whether it
be cold climate or varroa that has stopped them.  I don't think that we
should be worried to the extent the tabloid press would scare us.  I've
heard of Cyprian and African bees being imported to the US in the late
1800s and early 1900s.  They were just mean bees and didn't cause any
hype then.  Don't be overly scared of "killer bees".  The facts just
don't support the hype.