Hello Randy & All,
The old dinasaur queen producer you speak of is the same beekeeper which 
attended all the meetings and learned all the information but still was 
wiped out by tracheal mites and rebuilt and then was wiped out by varroa.

The first documented case of small hive beetle was in Charleston in 1995. 
Eleven years ago. We were told then that SHB would eventually infest most 
of the U.S..

If the person you speak of had started getting ready by converting less 
than 10% of his mating nucs to 2-5 frame mating nucs then he would be ready 
now. Instead he will wait till the SHB puts him out of business. Instead he 
has a huge number of small mating nucs for which there is no market for nor 
will there ever be again after SHB arrives. I saw stacks of these in 
Florida & Georgia for sale. Maybe your friend would like to buy another 
10,000 real cheap!

I have got a five year busness plan in my operation. Your friend is the 
type which will deal with the problem when it happens and so like with 
tracheal mites and varroa he is going to lose his shirt.

Small hive beetle is coming to northern California (most likely next season 
if not already in hives as I can assure you the northern California package 
industry will be the last to admit SHB in their hives).

I don't care what "survey says".

The ONLY defense for queen producers against SHB is to convert to larger 
nucs with enough bees to protect the nuc. Ask the southern queen producers. 
Those with five frame nucs are not having problems. Those with mating nucs 
using a cup of bees are losing their shirts!

The migratory beekeepers which are left are left because they quickly adapt 
to the fast changing beekeeping world. All the old dinasaurs are gone now 
in our business.

SHB could change the face of the California queen & package industry. 
Raising queens in small mating nucs like Grandpa did will not work when SHB 
arrives.

Your friend is "asleep at the wheel" in my opinion.  I do not have SHB in 
my operation but I made changes for the SHB arrival several years ago and I 
am ready. Are you? Your queen producer friend is not! 

As far as I know I was the only out of state beekeeper to travel to Florida 
in 1998 to see first hand the first SHB infestation in Florida.

I studied tracheal mites & varroa for years before they entered the U.S.. 
Just in case!

If you stopped all loads from entering California the Northern part of 
California is still past due for SHB infestation.

I do feel sorry for the queen producer but he needs to pull his head out of 
the sand and start getting ready for SHB.

Bob 

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