On the other hand, the five Island associations have all had meetings and the overwhelming majority of members (commercial, small scale and hobbyist) agree that we should not allow imports of used equipment or bees in hives or on comb.
There is some interest in all of the associations for allowing the import of breeding queens and even packages of bees. Varroa-resistant breeding stock might be a very good thing to bring in, for example.
What most of us are against is semi trailers full of migratory bees adding to our difficulties.
- Dan
]]>Not all Vancouver Island beekeepers are opposed to the lifting of the ban – some would like the ability to import under proper inspection protocols, just like those protocols utilized to import bees from Australia, New Zealand and Chile under the current ban.
There are only 586 registered beekeepers on Vancouver Island. Many of who only have one or two hives.
This issue has been at the forefront for some time and just because a vocal minority did not get their way they are up in arms. Many beekeepers on Vancouver Island have been consulted over this issue.
These beekeepers are assuming that all the equipment being brought in is used, they have not asked anyone that is importing ‘Domestic Canadian Honey Bees’ if they are putting them in new equipment. Speak with a beekeeper that is importing before making this outlandish statement.
More than 90% of the honeybees on Vancouver Island died this past winter – and farmers need bees now for pollinating food crops. Is the quarantine working, probably not as people have smuggled honey bees onto Vancouver Island in the past 22 years, the quarantine is simply not enforceable plus it has no scientific basis upon which it is supported.
The issue regarding allowed importation of bees for foreign suppliers, such as New Zealand and Chile. Where do you think the bulk of North American honey bee disease originated, it was imported from foreign countries. Where are the DNA tests to prove that the bees imported over the last 22 years from foreign countries are not the culprit of the recent collapse on Vancouver Island. What is a non-threatening bee disease? This would imply that we know everything about these bees and their environment, including that no one in that country ever illegally imported bees from elsewhere. Also this past spring a shipment of bees arrived from Chile – of the 830 packages of bees 820 were dead on arrival, another replacement shipment was sent and over half of the shipment arrived dead. The shipment from Australia was cancelled due to volcanic ash problems.
Vancouver Island already has a mite problem, including chemical resistant strains of the mites because Vancouver Island beekeepers have, just like the rest of North America over using chemicals. What ever happened to an Integrated Pest Management approach to pests? The island needs to be more vigilant and rely less on chemicals when treating bee diseases and pest, which we already have. It appears that the general public is being lead down the garden path is they think Vancouver Island is honey bee paradise, because it is not.
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