[Oldtimer]

I'm posting this on behalf of a friend who is a commercial queen breeder only selling his queens in New Zealand. Since i am on Beesource and he is not, I'm posting.

He now wants to export, and is looking at Canada, looking initially at 1 to 2 thousand queens in the first season to see how things go.

So he is looking for some contacts in Canada, private individuals, or brokers, people who would be interested in purchasing some queens. In my view his queens are very well raised, his queen cells are big, fat, and uniform, and his queens have a good reputation locally.

Anyone interested please drop me a message and I'll pass your details on to him.

 

[AJ Farms]

If he is committed enough to go through the health and import side of the paperwork to be able to ship here they will definitely sell. No matter how good of a job he does bees from that area of the world just don't do as well here. if there are problems or high losses for whatever reason it is always from that area of the world.

He could try to contact Peter Mewett at Early Queen Arrivals he is our major importer for the eastern half of the country. Peter could tell him what hoops he will need to jump through (which is what usually deters the small producers like your friend)
www.earlyqueenarrivals.com

 

[dgl1948]

Contact Beemaid in Winnipeg. They import and distribute queens.https://www.beemaid.com/

 

[Oldtimer]

Thanks guys that is great information, I will certainly pass that along to him.

 

[beecavalier]

bees from that area of the world just don't do as well here. if there are problems or high losses for whatever reason it is always from that area of the world.

Alastair...this comment reflects exactly the opposite of my experience. I find the Arataki and Kintail queens included in packages of excellent quality getting 1 1/3 seasons out of them. I pick them up at the Alberta Honey Producers Coop...Beemaid..in Edmonton, Alberta...so if your friend was able to get them over here, I would definitely try them...even Italians. They are fall-mated queens...so well mated... but it doesn't matter how good the quality is if transport conditions degrade the product. Spring 2019 Arataki packages (tubes) were of phenomenal quality...so they must be continuous monitoring on the whole trip.

These have been my general experiences and may not reflect all Canadian beekeepers experiences.

Photo is brood from an Arataki queen in it's second season.

 

[Gray Goose]

So how does one guarantee than no "pests or mites" come into Canada/North America on these Queens?
Seems fraught with risk.

GG

 

[Oldtimer]

There is a mountain of paperwork, that's how.

Back when I was sending bees avoer myself, all that was required was a declaration that there was no AFB within some distance of the apiaries the bees were coming from. But that was pre varroa, and pre a lot of other nasties.

And Beecavalier, thanks for the kind words. However what AJ Farms had to say, positive or negative, it's all good to know. No skin off my nose, it is just passed on to my buddy. There can be a multitude of reasons, could be what the beekeeper is asking the bees to do, some strains may be less suited, could be climate, whatever. But we can never solve issues if we are not made aware they exist, AJ's comments will be taken note of.