Usually I do not enter into these debates as I would be on a hiding to 
nothing.  But seeing as how Peter D and Randy have suggested I should reply 
here goes.

Dick wrote and asked.

> They were a small clutch of bees
> that were 30 feet up a sailboat mast. They were killed. Did anyone know 
> they
> were Ceranae before they were killed?

Yes they had been identified as Apis cerana before destruction.  The mast 
had been lowered for work on it.

> If not, no special attention was paid.
> Poison spray I suppose. Then saw the mast apart? Did Denis go to the bees 
> or
> did they travel to him?

The bees went to him as I recall.

> How long do the mites stay on dead bees?

If the mites are dead also from the spary then I would think indefinitely.

> For the rest of it the original hive swarmed and some swarms were killed.
> They made it into a wild area and no one really knows if all of them  have
> been killed off. True they are miles from producing apiaries but they 
> aren't
> gone and they are a threat.

That is why we have a surveillance and eradication program in place.  To get 
rid of them.  Australia has a good track record in eradication of pests that 
other in the world have failed to eradicate and said couldn't be eradicated. 
Recently equine influenza was eradicated in Australia after being found 
here.  We have a fire ant eradication program in place not far from where I 
live.  This is progressing well.  I believe that in the USA there have been 
some local areas of fire ants eradicated but no national eradication.

> It's probably true that we are more likely to catch a swarm from another
> route.

Agreed.  So what programs do you have in place?  I would be keen to look at 
them because I can always learn something from other programs.

With the swarms and nests of cerana that are being found and destroyed, all 
bees, except I think for two nests which were in houses, are examined for 
all mites and all brood combs have the caps removed and the sealed brood is 
examined for mites.  So far, none have shown any mites.  This examination is 
carried out in Queensland by the Departmental people who have my full 
confidence.  Thought I should mention this as you might get the impression 
that all samples go to Dennis Anderson.

Microsatellite DNA was carried out on the initial finds and it showed that 
we were dealing with the one original swarm.  So if this stays the same then 
we will have any nests becoming inbred and weak.  This is to our advantage.

Brian asks - Why would we want to import more bees that have no resistance?

Firstly it would give you clean bees to start with, e.g. on almond 
pollination, and secondly you can then later requeen with your resistant 
queens that you are breeding.  This overcomes the shortage of bees you have. 
However if you do not have a shortage of bees, then there will be no market 
for Australian packages.

Hope the above helps in some way but I think not in some cases.  C'est la 
vie!!!

Trevor Weatherhead
AUSTRALIA 

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