maybe no aussie bee's in 09

[TwT]

is there a thread started on this already? if not read this

http://home.ezezine.com/1636/1636-2008.12.09.13.53.archive.html

they are talking about banning them, closing the boarders, seems this bee might have some nasty stuff it carries with it, wonder why they still talking about it?

[Jessaboo]

Anyone have more info in this? I am curious why the Asian bee is an issue. Wikipedia says:

"Apis cerana is a natural host to the mite Varroa destructor and the parasite Nosema ceranae, both serious pests of the Western honey bee[5]. Having coevolved with these parasites, A. cerana exhibits more careful grooming than A. mellifera, and thus has an effective defense mechanism against Varroa that keeps the mite from devastating colonies. Other than defensive behaviors such as these, much of their behavior and biology (at least in the wild) is very similar to that of A. mellifera."

Which makes it sound like A. cerana is better adapted to deal with varroa mites. Is the issue that A. cerana is bringing in varroa and it doesn't already exist in Australia? I find that hard to believe - but I suppose it is possible.

Would be interested to hear opinions on this - thanks for posting it TwT - interesting stuff!

- Jess

[Brian D. Bray]

The issue is so important because, up to now, Australia is the last large landmass absent of the Varroa mite.  Technically, with Apis, C being the original host of the varroa mite, Australia can no longer claim to being varroa free.  Hence the haste to negotiate an excludion clause to the country of origin restriction of the trade agreement in order to keep a multimillion dollar business active. 
But as all have found out, more than once, designating a quarintine area is just a temporary futile gesture.  Just as in Hawaii where one of the larger Islands has found varroa infestations, it is only a matter of time until it spreads to every island that has bees.

[TwT]

they might get hit with Tropilaelaps next , we dont need another mite

http://www.defra.gov.uk/hort/Bees/pdf/trop.pdf

[Lone]

Hello,

I believe the asian honey bee has a big tendency to swarm, up to 20 times a year The Bee Book says, so it will spread rapidly.  The honey production is too low to make them commercially viable, so the threat is the spread of varroa and other mites, and disease such as AFB. So far, we haven't had to deal with varroa mite here.    

I live only 6 hours drive from the region they are being found.  The bees ovbiously do some island hopping to get onto the mainland. They were found in PNG some years ago.  North of Cairns region is the Daintree Rainforest, and up the cape is some pretty remote and inaccessible land in the wet season which is just starting.

I suppose the assumption is that asian honey bees will quickly infect commerical varieties all over if they spread beyond the Cairns region.

Lone

[Koala John]

Actually Australia can still claim to be varoa free. If you read the article in full you will see that the Asian bees found to date are not infested with Varroa. There are thousands of beeks in Australia checking their bees regularly for Varroa all over the country, and our quarantine service has many bait hives set up around various potential ports of entry. To date there have been no positive detections of Varroa. That's a fact. Of course it is only a matter of time until Australia too succumbs to Varroa, but fortunately that has not yet happened.

As a beekeeper in the Southern part of Australia, I savour every year we have without Varroa. We don't even have small hive beetles in this part of the country. My two biggest worries are wax moth and Nosema. Chemical free beekeeping is not something you work hard at, it's just the standard way we keep bees down here. This site has taught me a lot about Varroa, and helps me understand what will be needed to combat it when it eventually arrives. But until that happens - life is good down under folks!

[KONASDAD]

all countries should probably stop importing bees. I know its a huge business, but it just causes bigger issues in the end.

[TwT]

the main question I would have is what disease's do they carry with them? I think imports should be shut down also.. don't want to take a chance on lose the bee's line's we have.

[mick]

Ah geeze, this pops up every year. its the number one question asked of me from beekeepers from the rest of the world. We aint got jack of anything, not for now. Thats why fools like me can make honey.

Its just media hysteria. Doom and Gloom "our last saviour has gone, the worlds doomed, all the plants are gunna die".

[BjornBee]

T-mites, v-mites, SHB, all came from other areas of the world. I think we are up to 18 different viruses that the bees carry. Some of them "collected" from around the world as bees are shipped around. And there actually may be more of them.

Bees are one small fraction of animals and species that have been shipped around the world. And as with bees, many invasive, nonnative insects, are creating all kinds of problems, not just in the U.S., but around the world.

Contact any state agriculture department, and they will provide a list of insects and disease that they are currently "tracking" after being introduced into the area. Shipping problems around the world is not "Doom and gloom", it a REAL problem.

And I find it ironic, that comments come from such places as those from Australia, where they prohibit and restrict entry of the very same insects they send around the world.

But, lets be real......the same hobby and professional beekeepers who complain about such items, all flock to such middlemen and sellers of foreign products. There are certain sellers of bees from operations in Texas, that openly advertise selling bees from other countries, but you barely hear a word. Walmart we all complain about. But a bee company selling bees shipped from around the world, seems to go unnoticed. I would NEVER buy bees from such places.

I favor building our own bee industry and NOT shipping in insects of any kind from around the world.

And why anyone would want bees from places around the world that are not subjected to mite pressures, with survivability traits, is mind-boggling. Did you ever wonder how weak the genetics and the bees ability to handle problems such as v-mites, are effecting those operations that use such bees? No wonder those large operations (who probably lost their bees due to at least in part,,,,chemical overload) bring in Aussie bees by the truckload, then pour in more chemicals to get them to handle the new mites these bees have never dealt with. (It does not take long for a mite free package to be infested with mites)

Doom and gloom? No. Just practical REAL issues and advice for ALL beekeepers in the states. Quit buying Australian bees, quit buying from those operations that supply them, and quit buying weak genetics strains of bees after pollination from other beekeepers who places these bees in their hives, only to pass them along to you.

[rdy-b]

Its on again-  http://home.ezezine.com/1636/1636-2008.12.24.14.48.archive.html
RDY-B