austrailian bees

[1frozenhillbilly]

i saw this on yahoo and thought it aught to get posted here,  john if im in the wrong forum please correct it

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090118/ap_on_re_us/disappearing_bees

figured everyone here would be interested

[mick]

Oh for the love of................ you can picture me here pretty dumbfounded.

I am not having a shot at you billy, its best we know whats out there, but if you follow the history of these rumours, they trace back to rumours and nothing more.

Our Scientists in Australia both Government paid and Private, dont get censored in any way. They say what they like when they like and answer to their peers. If there was one tiny weeny hint of trouble with bees here, it would be made public as soon as the results were in. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain by sharing information. Why would we ship diseased anything anywhere even if we had it to share? We are not some sth american backwater. We invented the Boinic Ear, the Black Box Flight Recorder, the Esky, Metal Storm, the Stump Jump Plough and Vegiebloodymite! the Winged Keel and Blast Glass. The wine cask, the 8 hour day, Aspro, relenza and spray on Skin. We know a bit about science.

Ahh the Feral Australian Bee, nasty grrr evil thing it is. For gawds sake, all our commercial bees are the same as yours, Italians, Russians, Carnoleons. We have no native commercially productive bees. They were all imported from around 1790 onwards.

Our native bees are the size of large fleas. They couldnt sting to save themselves. They have no diseases or mites either. Thats why they have existed for a couple of hundred million years.

Now for this gem from the article

Entomologists also fear that the aggressive bee species found near Australia's Great Barrier Reef could carry a deadly mite, said Jeff Pettis, the USDA's top bee scientist.

Well thats the biggest load of crap ive read in a long time. Mr Pettis, for your info, the Great Barrier Reef is 1800 miles long and from 50 to 2000 miles off shore, so can you be a bit more specific? Idiot.

Theres no bees anywhere near the reef. Not aggressive, not with mites, not native or introduced. Did you mean commercial hives at Cairns? Toowoomba, Djirranbandi? about 1000 miles from the reef?

Its just mis information spread to.by.for people with interests in breeding US raised queens and hives. I dont blame them. If they dont get on board while they can, they will die through competition. Business wont be able to compete. If the Aussie Bees are as hardy as they say compared to yours.

If this Bloke Pettis is your top bee man and he has said this, you should start to panic now.

Our bees may CONTAIN EGGS FROM ALIEN MONSTERS but we are not going to tell you. We reckon you will get to that one in 6 months at this rate!

[BjornBee]

The "bloke" Pettis, is not the "top" bee guy. But I would listen to him before the next guy calling others "bloke" on a bee forum.... 

Competition...

Would that not involve open trade. If I understand it, Australia has some import bans concerning bees. I only wonder why?

I heard all this crap before about unwarranted fears in regards to importing bees. But we got t-mites, v-mites, and SHB from somewhere. We now have something like 18 viruses, and they find a new one it seems every so often. And there is no guarantee that the next one will come from importing bees.

There are many examples of all types of insects being brought in, only to find something new and damaging later. And I bet many beekeepers from Australia would be up in arms about allowing imports of bees from other countries. I bet that "bloke" Mick may also feel the same....

[oldenglish]

We invented the Boinic Ear, the Black Box Flight Recorder, the Esky, Metal Storm, the Stump Jump Plough and Vegiebloodymite! the Winged Keel and Blast Glass. The wine cask, the 8 hour day, Aspro, relenza and spray on Skin. We know a bit about science.

Pretty Sure the wine cask was in use long before the prison colony was even a twinkle in the British Goverments eye. 

[Brian D. Bray]

I figure it this way;  the US government is so inept at immigration that it will let anything in, legal or not, and are now sending out invitations.

[mick]

We invented the Boinic Ear, the Black Box Flight Recorder, the Esky, Metal Storm, the Stump Jump Plough and Vegiebloodymite! the Winged Keel and Blast Glass. The wine cask, the 8 hour day, Aspro, relenza and spray on Skin. We know a bit about science.

Pretty Sure the wine cask was in use long before the prison colony was even a twinkle in the British Goverments eye. 

Not the old wooden ones, the grouse plastic ones in cardboard boxes, chateau cardboard, surely you have it there?

[1frozenhillbilly]

wow i didnt mean to start a donny brook,  i figured that you guys down there were using the same kind of european honey bees we do here and that it is very likely that yours haven't been exposed to african queens like some of ours have,
lets all have a pint and keep our eyes on what were here for, to have fun,  make a little honey for the kitchen and mabey a buck or two along the way

[BjornBee]

wow i didnt mean to start a donny brook,  i figured that you guys down there were using the same kind of european honey bees we do here and that it is very likely that yours haven't been exposed to african queens like some of ours have,
lets all have a pint and keep our eyes on what were here for, to have fun,  make a little honey for the kitchen and mabey a buck or two along the way

For me, to hear about because they have the same type bees, and somehow this equates into the possibility that nothing new can come about, is not prudent. V-mites, and a host of other items including viruses have cross over vectors. That being, they are seen in other bee species, and other insects. And the real possibility, would exist that bees would carry, or harbor pathogens and new diseases that are not originated from bees themselves. It's not about comparing two bees and assuming that because they originated years ago from the same spot. It's about understanding what could be picked up, transported, from one area of the world to the next.

And I don't think it's fun, when I'm called out, or anyone is called out, and made to feel that expressing concerns are nothing more than protecting one's bee breeding or bee operation. It should only reason to also understand that those comments are coming directly from the side that may be saying things from their perspective, being the one's that are selling and promoting their own interests.

I'll say all I can. I don't buy bees from places that import bees. I don't understand why beekeepers would buy from such places that have bees that are not subjected to handling mites.

Soon, thousands of hives will be flooding the market from the California almond groves. Some of these no doubt, will be Australian installed packages that some may feel are not worth trying to save after pollination. So they grab the pollination money, and recoup their investment in dumping them on beekeepers not knowing what they bought, or the impact of having such bees. A vicious cycle. It must suck to realize the only way to keep these bees alive after they are soon introduced to mites, is to dump chemicals in the hives, or dump them to other beekeepers. And we wonder why the commercial guys are having problems. Problems that no doubt will continue.

Sorry if some, and foreigners in particular, are upset with my "Buy American" attitude and comments. Sorry if I openly promote and support the American bee industry with no reserves or hidden agendas. Sorry if I think bringing in bees from around the world is a bad idea.

[KONASDAD]

I have a general issue w/ importing any animals from any country. As Brian said, governments are inept when it comes to closing borders from invasive pests, human, animal, and plant. Our country, and Australia are loaded w/ non-native species. Some have turned out great, such as the HB. Some have not. Invasive non-native species have become a huge financial burden in many states. Kudzu anyone? How about mudskippers? Rats? Pigs. List could go on for pages and pages.

My gripe has nothing to do w/ bees per say.

I must also agree, buying bees that havent been exposed to mites, cold weather etc is an inviatation to disaster for the beek. Whether they come from Hawaii or Australia.

[mick]

Nah theres no donnybrook here, just debate.

Nice good old fashioned honest opinions being expressed. We used to be able to do it all the time once, now we have to worry about being sued if we speak our minds!

EXCEPT ON HERE