Austrailian Queens

[Beemaninsa]

I seem to remember reading something a couple of weeks ago about Austrailia and NZ getting approval to ship queens and packages to the US. Does anyone know any queen breeders from down under that are doing this? I am looking for some Feb queens. Thanks.

[jfischer]

While the "trade deal" has been approved,
there is much to work out in regard to the
"certification", meaning how they will
inspect their hives from which queens
and packages are taken prior to shipping.

I'm not sure that things will be ready for
"this spring". Why not order from Hawaii,
and do business with a reliable supplier with
a good reputation, and avoid the added costs
and problems inherent in trying to have live
bees shipped from the other side of the planet,
through customs, etc?

You may also want to talk to some Canadians
about their experience with queens and packages
from Australia and New Zealand? They were
firmly unimpressed, which is why the big beekeepers
in Canada are so happy about being able to once
again buy queens from the USA.

I'll have an article in the Jan 05 Bee Culture about
the impact of the "New Bee Regs" on US beekeepers, as
the regs have impact even on beekeepers who have no
interest in bees from overseas.

[Beemaninsa]

Thanks Mr Fischer! I have been on a waiting list for mid Feb queens from 2 Hawaiian producers since October. I will attempt to find a Canadian beekeeper who has used Auzzie bees in the past.

[lloyd@rossrounds.com]

All beekeepers should be very careful when ordering Australian queens. There are two reasons:
1. Chalkbrood is totally or almost totally unknown in Australia. Here it is a minor fungus disease, largely because our bees have developed resistance. It is a tragic sight to see what chalkbrood can do to a hive when the bees are not resistant. I have seen it.
2. Trachael mites are unknown in Australia. Our NWC's are reasonably resistant, as are most strains of Buckfast and Spivak's hygenic stock.

When our NWC's are the 'best in the world', and some of Spivak's strains are showing real positive attributes, why would anyone want to order queens from Australia? Queens from Australia are probably excellent for Australia, but almost certainly have nothing to contribute to our excellent stocks.

[loggermike]

My sentiments exactly!The last queens in the world I would want in my hives would be from an area with no mites or chalk.Think about it.