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From:
James Fischer <[log in to unmask]>
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Date:
Fri, 6 Sep 2002 03:17:43 -0400
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Mike asked:

> Did the intoduction of mites into the U.S. come via Canada
> from importation from overseas?

No.

In fact, Canada seems to be of the opinion that the reverse
was the case, hence their ban on all bee imports from the
USA in 1987, a ban that continues to the present.

Canada says that they did not find varroa until 1989.
Varroa was found in the USA in 1987.

Here's an animated map showing the global spread of varroa.
(hand-repair any wrap-around in the URL!)

http://www.maf.govt.nz/biosecurity/pests-diseases/animals/varroa/maps/2000varroa-global-animap.htm

It really does not matter how varroa got into North America
They certainly did not swim here, and could not have crawled
or flown on the backs of swarming bees across the continent
as quickly as they spread once they got here.

It also does not really matter if New Zealand and Australia are
allowed to offer queens and packages to US beekeepers.
They are simply examples of a trend, and it is the trend that
is troubling, not the specific countries currently at issue.

What matters is that experience has taught us nothing.  Recent
experience for the USA includes tracheal mites (1984), varroa
mites (1987), and small hive beetles (1998).

What we should have learned by now, and what should be considered
with care before overturning a law prohibiting imports of bees and queens
that has stood since 1922, includes the following:

1)  No one can know what pest or disease will be "serious".
     Anyone who claims to know is a fool.  The Small Hive
     Beetle was not considered a serious pest in Africa, nor
     did (USA's) APHIS define it as "serious".  Once it got to
     the USA, it proved to be very serious.  Serious as in a
     plague of biblical proportions.  Therefore, reliance on a
     list of "known serious" pests and diseases is fuzzy
     thinking to the point of being willful incompetence.

     Sadly, exactly such a "list" is the primary basis for the
     pending decision on NZ and AUS package and bee imports,
     and if left unchallenged, will be the basis for all future decisions.

2)  Even when we know a pest is serious, USA beekeepers and
     government regulators lack the strength of character to
     impose inter-state quarantines, and lack the budgets to
     aggressively enforce limits on the inter-state bee movements
     that clearly spread these pests.

     It is clear that quarantines at least slow down the spread of
     pests, moreso when the quarantines can be imposed at
     barrier that cannot be "bypassed" at whim by unscrupulous
     beekeepers.  Examples would be the Canadian border and
     the New Zealand "line", both which have proven to be effective.
     Another good example would be the oceans on either side of
     North America, which were effective enough barriers to even
     keep world wars away from all but the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.

3)  Different strains of the "same" disease or pest can be resistant
     to approved treatments, and can thus be much more serious
     as a result.  Which would YOU rather have?  Varroa that you
     can control with Apistan, or varroa that is resistant to both
     Apistan and Checkmite?

     Sadly, no one is considering "strains" of diseases or pests,
     thereby ignoring basic biology.  So much for "science-based
     analyses" as defined in the GATT and NAFTA.

4)  In time, pests and diseases can spread through even the tightest
     control systems.  Just ask New Zealand about varroa.  Allowing
     imports simply speeds the spread of diseases and pests, by
     increasing the number of entries of host animals.  Prohibiting
     imports may not stop diseases and pests, but it sure does slow
     them down and gives us the chance to stop 'em cold where we
     find them.

     Re-play the animated map of the spread of varroa, and imagine
     how much sooner varroa might have appeared in the USA if
     GATT-type trade agreements had been implemented in the
     1950s.

5)  One cannot find a pest or disease that one is not looking for,
     and most beekeepers don't notice diseases or pests until
     they start killing hives.  Further, when one exports bee
     products, one has an inherent conflict of interest in regard to
     admiting that one "has" certain pests or diseases.  This applies
     not only to beekeepers, but countries as a whole.

I don't know how anyone got the impression that GATT and NAFTA
shifts "the burden of proof" from the firms seeking to profit from exports
to the citizens of the "target market", but I sure feel like a "target market".
The problem is that the "target" has apparently been painted on all our backs.

The USDA is faced with an clearly impossible task, and needs our help:

a)  They are asked to "prove" that a tangible risk exists,
     and if they cannot, they are being pressured to approve
     the imports.

b)  They are apparently limited to considering only "known" risks,
     even when very recent history (small hive beetle) proves that
     the unknown is much more risky than what is known.

c)  Once they rubber-stamp their approval on imports, they are
     dependent upon the exporting county's controls, since one
     cannot inspect packages or queens at the point of entry
     without facilities that simply do not exist.  In the current case
     at hand, New Zealand and Australia have shown the world that
     they could not keep known devastating pests out of their countries.
     How can we be expected to believe that they can keep pests in?

d)  The USDA is apparently forced by what we can only conclude to
     be extreme political pressure to indulge in fantasies about bees being
     imported from New Zealand and/or Australia to Canada, and then to
     the USA as their sole basis for ignoring valid questions that would
     otherwise be a valid scientific basis for not approving imports.
     In essence, they are saying "See? Nothing bad has happened".
     Tongues are bitten to avoid saying "Nothing bad has happened YET".

There is a public hearing on all this in Beltsville MD on Oct 29th, 2002.

Anyone want to join me to teach a little basic risk management and biology?
The more, the merrier, since such events often limit each speaker to a very
brief statement.  I'll pick up the bar tab afterwards at our "victory" celebration,
win, lose, or draw.  (Send e-mail off-list.)

It could be an interesting venue, since it will be the first time that beekeeping
has appeared at the intersection of "Free Trade", "Science", and "Politics".

If nothing else, it will be a good test of Mob-ocracy versus the minions of
the combined forces of GATT (including The Trilateral Commission, Mall-Wart,
The Bilderberger Group, Alternative 3, The World Zionist Conspiracy, VilAnon,
Majestic-12, World Freemasonry, SMERSH, The Second Soviet, Switzerland,
The Arctic Nazis, The Hellfire Club, Price-Waterhouse-Coopers, Sanrio,
Archer-Daniels-Midland, The U.S. Military-Industrial Complex, and Amway).

They don't stand a chance, and they'll never know what hit them...


        jim

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