Was SHB, Now more queen and nuc raising

[fatshark]

If people are going to import packages from Southern Italy we will have SHB this year for sure.

I fear that you could extend this to imports from the places that either overwintered their bees in Southern Italy or imported nucs from Southern Italy last year. There was clearly a long period when the beetle went unnoticed … if it's already in Germany or France, for example, then the horse has already bolted.

We've been over this ground before and there appears little movement from the national associations. The BBKA stance is particularly disappointing. Previous importations have, I believe, all been with bees or bee products. NBU analysis indicates that bees/equipment/products are the real threat (risk analysis posted elsewhere in this thread).

I was fortunate to again hear Michael Palmer give his Sustainable Apiary talk this weekend … what he preaches should and could be expanded to cover a entire country.

[No worries, but this last comment prompted a long diversion into queen and nuc rearing from the point of view of making beekeeping in the UK more sustainable and negating the need for these imports that risk the health of everyone's bees. I found a new home here for that discussion. G.]