What I meant to ask is whether we would have, prior to the arrival of SHBs in the US, recognized and considered SHBs enough of a problem to think to exclude them. In other words, if something is a very minor or non-issue in another country (IAPV in Australia, as another *hypothetical* example), are we going to even think or try to protect ourselves from such things? Are the costs of unknown, unanticipated problems factored into the cost- benefit analysis of importing bees from other parts of the world, or would that be considered unfair protectionism? In order to be "fair," must we turn a blind eye to the unknown risks we take by importing bees from other parts of the world? If so -- and I fear it's the case -- I think that's just really stupid. ****************************************************** * Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at: * * http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm * ******************************************************