Re-opening the Canada/US Border to Bee Imports.

I've been speaking to various people in the bee industry lately, and there seems to be a consensus forming for re-opening the Canada/US border to bee imports. 

Whether to open it 100%, with free traffic in bees both ways, something that would vastly aid Prairie beekeepers, or restrict the opening to just queen bees under protocol -- or something in between -- yet remains to be seen.  What is becoming clear is that the embargo has served its purpose and slowed the spread of tracheal and varroa mites, but that the mites are so widespread in Canada now that the cost of the closure much exceeds any benefits to the industry, on the Prairies, at least.  Moreover, maintaining the closure at this point is a violation of several of our international trade agreements, and it is only a matter of time until it is challenged in courts.  Those challenges could be costly and embarrassing.  No one wants that, so the time has come for dealing.

The BCHPA meeting, coming up in, Kelowna will definitely be the first in a series of venues for the border debate this year, and I encourage everyone with an interest in the matter -- Canadian or American -- to attend.  I don't know if this question s on the program, but it will come up, I am sure.   I hope that parts of the meeting where this matter is discussed will be well and firmly moderated, and that everyone has read Roberts Rules of Order (More links 1  2 ) so that everyone will be permitted to speak, and so that a few individuals or viewpoints will not dominate the agenda.

Too often, at bee meetings, the chairperson does not know or follow the rules, and allows one person or group to dominate.  Too often, beekeepers don't know the rules, and are shouted down or overruled in debates.  When that happens, everyone goes away feeling ripped off.  Knowing and following the rules can make an emotional meeting bearable, and result in a more rational, more just, conclusion.

From what I have seen of the BCHPA, the members are very fair minded people, and open to hearing and considering contrasting points of view.  BC beekeepers and regulators  have been very co-operative and very fair with Alberta beekeepers, sometimes at some cost to their own interests, and I expect that all aspects of this important matter will get careful consideration when it comes up.

After that, the ABA meeting, then the CHC and MBA meetings, and SBA meeting will follow, and hopefully all sides will be heard, and, hopefully, a solution that satisfies each region will emerge.  Personally, I think that we should get CFIA right out of this, and turn the matter over to the provinces and municipalities.  Local governments are very capable of discerning the unique local conditions and politics, and imposing a local solution that satisfies the majority of their constituents without trampling on the minorities.

You may notice that I am not including Eastern meetings in this list of gatherings where border discussion will take place.  I am sure that the question will come up at each provincial meeting across Canada, but, frankly, in my opinion, East is East, and west is West.  Toronto is 350 miles farther away from where I live than Mexico is.  It is 1956 road miles to Toronto via the shortest route -- which happens to be thru the USA -- compared to only 1609 miles to Mexicali.

Swalwell to Mexicali, Mexico -- 1609 miles	Swalwell to Toronto (Via the USA) -- 1956 miles	Swalwell to Redding,  California -- 1140 miles
Note how isolated, and how far south Eastern Canada is, compared to Western Canada, and to Northern California. How can Eastern Canadians have any idea what the problems are in the Northwest?

I mention Mexico only to illustrate how comparatively distant and isolated Eastern Canada is from where we live, when compared to a third country that is separated from us by the entire United States -- and to illustrate how comparatively close California is to us.  

Consider this: 

1. Sydney, Australia is about 8173 miles from here by air, and NZ is about 7429 miles away.

2. Package bees from Down Under must be  trucked some considerable distance to an airport in Australia or New Zealand.

3. Package bees from Down Under must often wait around at an airport before being shipped,

4. Package bees from Down Under are produced at the tail end of their season.

5. These Southern Hemisphere suppliers cannot supply late packages, when a long winter or bad spring unexpectedly increases demand

6. These Southern Hemisphere suppliers have often been unable to meet demand AT ANY PRICE

7. These Southern Hemisphere suppliers have, more than once, cut off scheduled shipments of confirmed orders, leaving beekeepers with empty hives.

8. There is always the risk that airlines may suddenly announce a refusal to haul bees at all.

9. Package bees from Down Under often undergo treatment with CO₂ (dry ice) in transit for cooling.

10. Package bees from Down Under often must also travel an additional 650 miles (12+ hours) or more, by road, from Vancouver airport to reach the final destination

11. Australia has Small Hive Beetle and does not test exhaustively for varroa (I'm told that periodic sugar shakes are used)

12. New Zealand has varroa and, on at least one occasion, has shipped heavily infested bees to Canada.

13. Package bees from Down Under are often inferior on arrival

14. A researcher counted as much as 30% chalkbrood in the sealed brood area of Australian packages hived at my place a while back.

Then consider this:

1. Redding, CA, is only 1140 miles from here -- 22 hrs by road -- and is even closer to beekeepers in B.C. and in Southern Alberta.

2. Good, healthy bees can be had from California.

3. We know that we can manage mites.  We did not know that when the border was closed as a precaution.

4. In the past, California bees were shaken, loaded, delivered inexpensively to the beekeeper, and installed into hives within a span of 36 or 48 hours.

5. Prairie beekeepers often drove down to get their own bees.

6. The bee health risks that caused the border to be closed are now very similar between Western Canada and California.

What are we doing?  It makes no sense at all to buy bees from NZ or Australia in preference to bees from California, given the current circumstances.  Western Canada -- even after a decade and a half of wintering research, practice, and bee breeding -- depends very heavily on imported package bees and imported queens.  Shortages, due to border closure to US bees, have severely impacted profitability.