Ted Fischer wrote:
> REGARDING RE>America's honeybees
>
>Walter Patton writes:
>"The big question is why H Shimunaki U.S.D.A. did not mention the
>hopeless situation facing U. S. beekeepers when their bees have mites
> and viruses which may be being introduced to the U.S. beekeepers
>from Canadian Bees entering the U.S. after being imported and
> thus introducing and spreading honeybee pest and diseases
> with total disregard for the intent of the Honey Bee Act of 1922
>which had a strict prohibition against the import of honeybees
> to the U.S. for the specic verbadium purpose to "prevent the introduction
>and
> spread of pests and diseases to U.S. honeybees." H. Shimunaki since
> his paid consultancy and paid 6 or 8 week vacation for he and his wife to
>New Zealand has had no concern for New Zealand bees being allowed
> into the U.S. via Canada without regard for the original intent
> of the Honeybee Act of 1922. Further H. Shimunaki allowed for a
> Federal Registry notification to be published stating that the
> U.S.D.A., Secretary of Agriculture had found New Zealand
> to be free of any pests and diseases of honeybees, a fraudulent
>statement, WHY? Beekeepers of America need new leadership
>at the U.S.D.A. with peer review to solve the problems with
>honeybees in the United States of America."
>
>I have hesitated up till now to enter this fray, but I can't help it any
>longer. Except from Mr. Patton, I have never heard that there was any
>disease or mite problem with New Zealand bees. Just the contrary - Canadian
>beekeepers have been prohibited (until now at least) from importing American
>bees because of *our* mite problem, and have had to get them all the way from
>New Zealand or raise the bees themselves (a better approach anyway). Why
>does Mr. Patton claim that Dr. Shimunaki's statement about New Zealand bees
>is fraudulent? Let's have some hard *facts* about this, or otherwise drop
>the subject.
>
>Ted Fischer
> reason New Zealand is singled out in this issue is explained by the
economics of the situation rather than any danger New Zealand bees may pose
as threat to the US beekeeping industry.
New Zealand has been exporting queen bees to Canada since the late '60s.
Long before any border closures, Canadian beekeepers wanted another source
of bee stock other than the US. Some reasons for this included, some
individuals' preference for NZ beestock, price, and an alternative in case
of a disaster in the US beekeeping industry. This disaster (Varroa and
Tracheal Mites) is now history and the border between the US and Canada was
subsequently closed. This event put a great deal of strain on US queen and
package producers (and the recipient Canadian beekeepers not overwintering
their bees), and mounted a great deal of pressure on both sides to reopen
the border again. However the alternative beestock available from NZ and
Australia gave the Canadians the option of keeping the border closed thus
slowing the inevitable spread of the two mites.
At the point that the Canadian border closed, New Zealand queen and package
exporters started to come under increasing scrutiny from some in the US
beekeeping industry, particularly those that had a vested interest in
getting the border open again. The clear (but hidden) strategy of making it
difficult or impossible to airfreight queens and packages from Australia and
New Zealand to Canada, was to try and force the border open again.
It all culminated a couple of years ago when right at the crucial time of
the year when all the queens and packages were due to move, Hawaii and
Continental US were closed to the passage of bees from NZ., completely
stopping trade through airports that had been transit points for 25 years.
This move caused a great deal of difficulty for both sides of the NZ and
Canadian trade, with many Canadians not getting NZ stock they had been
receiving annually for many years.
Hawaiian beekeepers have been trying to say for some time that because they
did not have Varroa and Tracheal mites they should be allowed to send bees
to Canada (and thereby pick up on what they see as a lucrative trade).
Hence their desire to try and prevent the passage of bees from Australia and
NZ via Hawaii thus (hopefully) force the Canadians to reopen the border - at
least to them anyway.
Much of the debate has centred around NZ having Kashmir Bee Virus (KBV) and
Half Moon Disorder (HMD) and the claim that these are "unknown" and "what
might they do in *our* circumstances".
The last importation of beestock into New Zealand was in the 1950s and it is
therefore probable that KBV was in our stock then. With trade of bees
around the World it is probable that KBV is in the category of endemic,
relatively harmless and widespread. To date, any country that has been
examined for it specifically, has shown to have it, including the US.
HMD occurs everywhere. How do we know? Because it has been isolated (By
Dr. Dennis Anderson - Australia) to a lack of adequate nutrition of the
young queen prior to mating. This nutrition is directly related to the
number of correct aged nurse bees in the mating nuc/hive. This causes
faulty development of the queen's ovaries leading to larvae that are
rejected by the feeding nurse bees whereupon they *die of starvation*.
Why was HMD discovered in NZ at such a late date? Because we don't have EFB
here. Larvae with EFB *starve* due to competition from bacteria in their
gut. In HMD and EFB, the young larvae die at the same age from starvation.
Result? *Identical* visual symptoms. Around the World it is almost certain
that HMD is routinely diagnosed as EFB and hence no further explanation is
ever sought. Only in New Zealand with its absence of EFB did the HMD
mystery attract enough attention to enable it to be explained.
The lumping of HMD into the case against NZ beestock only serves to
highlight the weakness in the arguments to date and show them for what they
are, zoosanitary trade barriers used in an effort to gain a trade/economic
advantage. The unfortunate aspect of this is that misrepresentation of the
many "facts" put up in these arguments tend to adversely affect the
improvement of our knowledge of our benefactor - the honeybee.
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Peter Bray, Airborne Honey Ltd., PO Box 28, Leeston, New Zealand
Fax 64-3-324-3236, Phone 64-3-324-3569 [log in to unmask]
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