> > You really can't compare Canada to the U.S other than casually. > Actually Canadian beekeepers led the way on breeding Tracheal tolerance in bees. Also they championed Oxalic and Amitraz when both were banned for use in the US and Oxalic still is while Amitraz is limited in its distribution. They have been at the forefront of Bee research and controlling Varroa. The fruits of that research is evident with low winter losses. Their climate is not much different than many parts of the northern US where many large commercial operations reside. What they suffer from is an inability to match the larger losses in the US where there are things like Varroa, nosema, virus, ... sorry, they do have them there. But no neonics.. but they do have them there and pollinate canola. So I guess that the main thing that separates them from us is they cannot match our large losses, hence are not as good at keeping bees as we in the US. Shame on you Canada! Makes me embarrassed to be so close to the border. But then, all my hives survived the winter, so I guess it rubs off. And now for something completely different. in a before passports visit to Canada I showed my military ID to the French Canadian guard at an infrequently visited crossing. He asked if I had any "AK47s" in the car since I was military. I said no and that I was in the Navy and was in charge of missiles and would have difficulty carrying them around since they were 20+ feet in length. Smiling he said,"Are there any in your trunk?" Like I said, it was infrequently visited. Just as soon as another car arrived, he waved us on. Bill Truesdell Bath, Maine *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html