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Subject:
From:
"Paul van Westendorp 576-5600 Fax: 576-5652" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Discussion of Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 23 Jun 1994 13:18:00 -0700
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    Indeed, the question as to how the importation of Hawaii queens into
    Canada fits the Canada/US border closure, is interesting.
 
    Perhaps, I could first comment on your question about quality.  The
    commercial queen producers in Hawaii are professionals and they supply
    good queens.  Most of the queen (and package) producers that supplied
    Canadian beekeepers before 1988 were equally good and reliable.  Of
    course, in any industry you find a few rotten apples, but as history has
    shown many commercial operators in Canada developed longterm business and
    personal relations with American suppliers because high quality stock was
    supplied.  Perhaps because of this strong bond, it was so hard for many
    Canadian producers to change their beekeeping practices from annual
    package operations to wintering.
 
    Ever since the border with the US was closed, commercial operators in the
    prairie provinces experienced difficulties in obtaining queens in early
    spring.  A small group of producers appealed to Canadian Honey Council
    and federal government to authorise the controlled importation of queens
    from Hawaii.   Initially, there was insufficient support from industry
    and governments to consider such importation.  Perhaps, part of the
    reluctance stemmed from the harsh debates on the border issue that had
    taken place in 87/88.  Also, due to a lack of factual information, there
    was ongoing unease about the true health status of bees in Hawaii, and
    the regulatory infrastructure needed to keep the State free of mites.
    Eventually, more information from Hawaii became available and parasitic
    mite infestations in Canada changed the attitudes of many.  In January,
    1993, Canadian Honey Council voted in support of importations of Hawaiian
    queens providing mite surveys with an Canadian inspector on site had
    taken place, confirming the absence of parasitic mites in Hawaii.
 
    To accommodate the industry request, the Canadian government had to amend
    its animal health regulations to allow a specified source (Hawaii) to
    ship livestock to Canada which the remainder of that country (the US) was
    not authorised to do.  Through Ministerial order, Hawaii was granted
    permission to ship queens to Canada in the spring of 1993, providing it
    remained mite-free.
 
 
    Paul van Westendorp                         [log in to unmask]
    Provincial Apiculturist                     ph.  (604) 576-5639
    BC Ministry of Agriculture                  fx.  (604) 576-5652
        Fisheries & Food

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