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Thread: Beekeeping on Mars

  1. #11
    Administrator gavin's Avatar
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    Thinking like a regulator would think .....

    A one year ban on any European source until we are clearer where the pest has already spread.

    or, if the information is available:

    A ban on imports from Italy, and from other European countries that cannot demonstrate an adequate level of proactive, effective, intense bee inspection effort and a willingness to rapidly report any detections (and throw effective 100km cordons around them).

    I've no idea what the perspectives are of beekeepers across mainland Europe. Presumably they're just as fatalistic as those UK beekeepers who already want to throw in the towel. As Jon says, it should be different for folk living on an island.
    Last edited by gavin; 05-10-2014 at 11:36 AM.

  2. #12
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    Wholeheartedly agree, if we cannot engineer a ban now with all the cards in our deck then it's almost an open invite for the beetle to come in. It is by no means inevitable that we get it, certainly not in our lifetimes, and such defeatist arguments should be shot down and their motives exposed post haste.

  3. #13
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
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    There is a 2 year EU suspension on 3 of the neonicotinoids because of the perceived harm to honeybees and the science is not even certain yet on that one.
    We know SHB will be harmful to beekeeping so why not take steps to keep that off these islands.

  4. #14
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    Time for people who care to be proactive and vocal?

  5. #15
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
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    NIHBS sent a statement to the minister 2 weeks ago calling for a total import ban.

  6. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jon View Post
    NIHBS sent a statement to the minister 2 weeks ago calling for a total import ban.
    And what did he say?

  7. #17
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
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    Hi Pete. Don't know. I haven't heard back from the PRO yet.
    Trouble with Ireland is the two jurisdictions as an import ban would be worthless without it applying to both.
    GB got varroa in 1992 and Ireland got its first case in 1998 in the Sligo/Leitrim area when someone brought a couple of colonies in from England.
    It is possible to keep new pathogens off the island if people behave responsibly.
    Connemara was varroa free until relatively recently until a beginner brought a colony in from Dublin without talking to any of the locals first.
    Ask Ger about it.

  8. #18

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    Hi Jon. Seems ridiculous not to have an immediate ban on imports for UK and Ireland, under the circumstances, there was very soon a ban when SHB was found in Hawaii.

  9. #19
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
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    What is the general beefarmer view Pete? Are most of them pro or anti an immediate import ban.
    Both of us sell a few UK reared queens within the UK so any restriction on imports would hardly be the end of the world.
    The main victims of any restriction on bee movement would be those who specialise in queens and packages who ship to multiple European destinations.
    I guess these people could be compensated for loss of trade.

  10. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jon View Post
    What is the general beefarmer view Pete?
    Split views really, there are many who don't import any bees or queens at all, one of the biggest is here in the south west... then there are obviously some that import new queens every spring, like a kind of standing order. Would not be the end of the world for me as i produce enough of my own queens, anything between 700 to 1200 a season, and over winter plenty for use in early spring, this over wintering of queens is what i believe a lot more beekeepers should be doing, it is so easy to do, and even over wintering just a few would be beneficial if a lot more beekeepers were doing it.

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