August 2022 - Interception of Honey Bee Queens at Dover

[Norton]

Consignment of queens without documentation destroyed at Dover.

Information: NBU website news.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes it’s here
https://nationalbeeunit.com/public/News/news.cfmI wonder what on earth the exporters/importers were up to?

 

[Wilco]

Well that's a shame but well caught NBU.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

well caught NBU

or rather well done the EPU (Entry processing unit) at BF Dover for picking it up.

 

[Norton]

Yes a good detection of this smuggling. In the photo of some cages, appears that there were hundreds of them.

Take home message is to be compliant when importing/exporting, then things run very smoothly and efficiently.

 

[Erichalfbee]

It's a good job they were intercepted but I feel so sad
What happens next?
Who gets their collar felt? The exporter, importer, both, neither?
Will they be checked for disease and SHB?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Who gets their collar felt? The exporter, importer, both, neither?

All depends - what paperwork (if any) was submitted, if it came in in the back of someone's private vehicle then obviously the driver is the 'importer' and the buck stops with them (and good chance the vehicle stays with us!) if it was in freight, same again - there must have been some kind of paperwork so it depends who submitted that.

 

[Garry R]

Looks like a well organised and documented outfit. Absolutely no excuse . At about £40 a pop profitable too. Say 100 cages in a very small package there's £4k

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Yes it’s here
https://nationalbeeunit.com/public/News/news.cfmI wonder what on earth the exporters/importers were up to?

Of course, we're all just assuming that sculduggery was involved, the NBU release is just a bog standard one and doesn't say that the bees had no paperwork, just that they didn't have health certificates. It happens (with all kinds of FERA related imports - not just bees) and the correct procedure at that point would be for FERA to be contacted for advice/further action the issue gets further clouded as legitimate imports etc are no longer a customs matter as, with all the messing around that happened in the early noughties this kind of stuff became the remit of HMRC and stayed with the taxmen when smuggling etc. became the responsibility of Border Farce Force.
I've looked at our closed Home Office website and can find no mention of it so it doesn't seem to have been an 'illegal' importation or it would certainly have been flagged.
My guess (and it is a guess) is that it was picked up at entry processing (I said Border Force before, but I think that's now HMRC) and amongst all the 'correct' paperwork it was discovered that there were no health certificates. Regardless of the ankle slapping that will ensue, the queens could not be sent back as.....they have no health certificates! so FERA would then be called in to take over as technically as it's their remit and HMRC/BF whatever only deal with it as an 'agency' matter.
Of course, I could be completely wrong.

 

[PeaBee]

Yes a good detection of this smuggling. In the photo of some cages, appears that there were hundreds of them.View attachment 33396

Take home message is to be compliant when importing/exporting, then things run very smoothly and efficiently.

Is it my eyesight or are these blue marked queens? Odd if these were being "smuggled" for resale or are NBU using a stock photo for their post and these are not the queens in question.

 

[katybravery]

That’s appalling. How hard could it be to keep them in some kind of quarantine and check them for disease or pests over time? I’ve heard they burn them.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

How hard could it be to keep them in some kind of quarantine and check them for disease or pests over time?

nigh on impossible

 

[Erichalfbee]

That’s appalling. How hard could it be to keep them in some kind of quarantine and check them for disease or pests over time? I’ve heard they burn them.

No. They are in a cage with a few supporters and food for a week.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

How hard could it be to keep them in some kind of quarantine and check them for disease or pests over time?

As Dani says - they are in travel cages with a half dozen workers. To 'check for disease' they would need to be in a nuc, with a small colony and allowed to lay - only once the brood has started being capped there's any chance of detecting either of the foulbroods.
And what of the SHB that may be there? keeping them in quarantine for any length of time gives them a chance to get out and spread.

 

[Hachi]

That’s appalling. How hard could it be to keep them in some kind of quarantine and check them for disease or pests over time? I’ve heard they burn them.

Not appalling at all. No health certificate no entry simples. Why risk our domestic honey farmers and bees??? If you want to see what the Aussies do watch "nothing to declare"

 

[Jimmy]

Of course, we're all just assuming that sculduggery was involved, the NBU release is just a bog standard one and doesn't say that the bees had no paperwork, just that they didn't have health certificates. It

Of course, we're all just assuming that sculduggery was involved, the NBU release is just a bog standard one and doesn't say that the bees had no paperwork, just that they didn't have health certificates. It happens (with all kinds of FERA related imports - not just bees) and the correct procedure at that point would be for FERA to be contacted for advice/further action the issue gets further clouded as legitimate imports etc are no longer a customs matter as, with all the messing around that happened in the early noughties this kind of stuff became the remit of HMRC and stayed with the taxmen when smuggling etc. became the responsibility of Border Farce Force.
I've looked at our closed Home Office website and can find no mention of it so it doesn't seem to have been an 'illegal' importation or it would certainly have been flagged.
My guess (and it is a guess) is that it was picked up at entry processing (I said Border Force before, but I think that's now HMRC) and amongst all the 'correct' paperwork it was discovered that there were no health certificates. Regardless of the ankle slapping that will ensue, the queens could not be sent back as.....they have no health certificates! so FERA would then be called in to take over as technically as it's their remit and HMRC/BF whatever only deal with it as an 'agency' matter.
Of course, I could be completely wrong.

That all sounds plausible, thanks Emyr. I wonder if the consignment would have got through if they were just taking a van load of beekeeping equipment through the border and 'forgot' to mention the queens or if they turned up as a normal holidaymaker with 20, 30 or however many caged queens concealed with their suitcases?
I have a vague memory that they use heat sensors and carbon dioxide detectors to reveal people/animals crossing the border illegally. Would these be sensitive enough for queen cages?

 

[Into the lions den]

Looks like a well organised and documented outfit. Absolutely no excuse . At about £40 a pop profitable too. Say 100 cages in a very small package there's £4k

These will not be 40 quid queens...no idea who the importer was but the careful hand written labels indicates a well organised albeit probably small scale producer. Not all that lucrative I can assure you. They will have cost from around 15 quid upwards to buy..and trade price in the UK around 25 to 30 quid. Costs including all the ferry fares will be at least £500. Plus importer takes all the risks of loss in transit and failure to have live delivery at end customer. Its not actually as profitable as you might imagine..the hidden costs of importing and taking losses on the chin undermine the whole economics significantly. IF this lot is ...say...300 q.......they will have cost c4500 to buy.......sell at say 26.50 (a common trade rate) so 7950....gross profit 3450. From current year experience iy sets us back around 800 per round trip...so down to 2650....cage changing and labour.another 200..so 2450...and after following all the rules and delays and changing losses anything from 5 to 10% never get to a hive due to losses at various stages..say 10%..so another 795 off..so now 1655. The endless phone calls...the replacements for the few that end up (usually due to over heating in transit) as drone layers or non layers...you will be lucky to make 1500 off a shipment that size. Frankly I have not made money from queen imports in 2021 or 2022 as the loophole users can now run rings round us on freshness of queens and price.

Whilst the difficulties of importing since Brexit have become onerous, the absence of a health certificate has always been a no no.
It was always possible (as in the past there was flexibility) for the health certificate to follow....as sometimes the producer just forgot to attach it or the shipment left on a day when the vets office was closed for getting it stamped. Some countries cannot issue certificates for the UK now as we rejected the system they used as part of Brexit..and they cannot set up for the new UK system. Bit of a nightmare.

Also very much doubt this has been anything other than a random find. Declared imports headed to Dover are actually declared and checked at Calais or Dunkirk. Other possibility is a tip off.

The anomaly of formerly safe suppliers now being treated as third country suppliers and the full weight of third country requirements being imposed on co operative importers/suppliers does not sit well with me when the very same authorities are perfectly happy (have been told exactly that) at queens from the very same suppliers coming in through Northern Ireland with no checks at all. Thats what you should all be up in arms about....the loophole that many are now using...whilst they crack down on those who want to work with them. Level playing field please..then we all know where we are and there is no incentive to sneak in through the back door.

Either way its a sad story.....had all the looks of a very nice origin (no idea where from) so the bees were probably very nice with very little...if any..risk.....and sad that the importer did not go to the effort of getting the certificate. Bees dead, importer out of pocket severely, and the beekeepers who bred them has all their work gone to waste...sad all round.