Importing package bees by the truckload?

[REDWOOD]

I quite like the idea of travelling down to Italy , have a few days sight seeing, picking up a few packages and returning to the uk and introducing a few British queens and making a bit of money.

 

[user 6228]

I quite like the idea of travelling down to Italy , have a few days sight seeing, picking up a few packages and returning to the uk and introducing a few British queens and making a bit of money.

sounds like the plotline of "the italian job".

we are the self preservation society...

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I quite like the idea of travelling down to Italy , have a few days sight seeing, picking up a few packages and returning to the uk

Bit of a tradition in our neck of the woods isn't it? but usually with the younger lads - catch a plane to the sunny Med. see the sights, the four S's (sun, sea, sangria and......) cop a package and introduce it to a few British ''Princesses'

 

[boca]

I bet, by next spring it will be banned importing bees from Italy due to SHB.

 

[itma]

The forum opinion seems to be that this trade is not required year-on-year because of "bee numbers plummeting in the UK" as the programme trailer stated.

I think there is a general recognition that this is a 'business decision', weighing up the cost of overwintering (extra) colonies versus buying in packages, to ensure meeting the (profitable) contractual obligations of pollination.

If I remember correctly, Michael Palmer (this forum and the USA) was preaching the exact opposite text in his lectures on The Sustainable Apiary - that buying-in packages was a copout from proper husbandry.

I bet, by next spring it will be banned importing bees from Italy due to SHB.

Well, if that is the general view from North Italy, it might be advisable for those with a contractual requirement to meet for pollination next Spring to be, right now, trying to make up some extra colonies for overwintering …

I quite like the idea of travelling down to Italy , have a few days sight seeing, picking up a few packages and returning to the uk and introducing a few British queens and making a bit of money.

What leads you to believe that British Qs would be more readily (and economically) available than colonies, early in the British Spring?
How would it be if those Qs (extremely coyly described by the BBC as being "sourced elsewhere") had actually come from New Zealand?

 

[sipa]

If I remember correctly, Michael Palmer (this forum and the USA) was preaching the exact opposite text in his lectures on The Sustainable Apiary - that buying-in packages was a copout from proper husbandry.

I agree

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

The vast majority of people in this country are also happy with a few square yards of land to grow a few spuds, some veg and maybe a little fruit. But if we depended on that to feed the country we would have starved long ago.

We import 86% of our honey consumption.

 

[mbc]

We import 86% of our honey consumption.

No, we import roughly 86% of the honey on the open market. Not the same thing.

 

[Norton]

The enemy has managed to get through the gate, is inside the EU fortress and is reproducing and spreading without apparent problems. The next few months are going to be interesting to say the least.

 

[mbc]

The enemy has managed to get through the gate, is inside the EU fortress and is reproducing and spreading without apparent problems. The next few months are going to be interesting to say the least.

Certainly if you're business involves moving bees around europe.
It could be interesting in a different way for those who are interested in propagating native bees.

 

[peteinwilts]

I bet, by next spring it will be banned importing bees from Italy due to SHB.

I doubt it... Money talks louder than common sense, and we do not tend to do anything until it is too late. (if at all!)

 

[Chris B]

I doubt it... Money talks louder than common sense, and we do not tend to do anything until it is too late. (if at all!)

If you check out beebase import data for 2014, you can see queens coming here from Australia which does have the beetle. It's a fair bet that colonies and packages will be banned or restricted but queen trade will continue from Italy, although I suspect demand would dry up severely anyway.

This is all assuming we don't have SHB here already. If we do then all bets are off.

 

[Norton]

Yes Chris, it is the 100km rule.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

No, we import roughly 86% of the honey on the open market. Not the same thing.

Well that strengthens the point. To spell it out: individual bee farmers are business people. But, collectively, UK beekeeping is not a business but a hobby. The "business" side of it contributes <14% of honey consumption and some proportion of pollination (ask Dave Goulson how much...). So no argument that this or that should be tolerated because of a strategic need for the industry holds up. <ADD>The concerns of "hobbyists" should dominate because collectively bee farmers are the same. If they could work out a way to quadruple output, then that would change.</ADD>

 

[peteinwilts]

Well that strengthens the point. To spell it out: individual bee farmers are business people. But, collectively, UK beekeeping is not a business but a hobby. The "business" side of it contributes <14% of honey consumption and some proportion of pollination (ask Dave Goulson how much...). So no argument that this or that should be tolerated because of a strategic need for the industry holds up. <ADD>The concerns of "hobbyists" should dominate because collectively bee farmers are the same. If they could work out a way to quadruple output, then that would change.</ADD>

Definition of a Farmer -a person who owns or manages a farm

I have a full time job, but in my 'spare' time I keep bees, tend the land, keep horses, pigs, sheep and cattle. The most successful farmers are those that treat farming as a 'spare time' activity.

Spare time farmers are on the rise, as it is so difficult making a full time living from farming.

My regional Inspector calls me a bee farmer due to the number of hives I own, not because it is a full time job.

I have no desire to take up farming or beefarming full time. The advantage means I am not reliant on farming or bee related wages, also meaning I do not have to go down the most efficient route.

The furthest I have imported bees from is Cornwall!

 

[Chris B]

Yes Chris, it is the 100km rule.

I wasn't aware that was what it was, but certainly makes more sense than any artificial political borders.

 

[itma]

I wasn't aware that was what it was, but certainly makes more sense than any artificial political borders.

Seems to be that the 100km is within those "artificial political borders".

From the SHB "Bee Health" thread -

BBKA issued a statement today
25 September 2014 FURTHER STATEMENT RE SMALL HIVE BEETLE IN ITALY
BBKA representatives attended the meeting of the Bee Health Advisory Forum held at Defra’s offices on Millbank, on 23 September 2014.
At our request, the discovery of Small Hive Beetle (SHB) in South West Italy was a priority item on the agenda. We learned that the Italian authorities have established a 100km exclusion zone around the apiary where SHB was first found.No exports of bees will be
permitted from within this area. However, we expressed the strong view that movements of bees carried a far lower risk than that of the shipment of fruit, vegetables and other plant materials from this area and which are more likely to spread SHB.
The BBKA and other stakeholders at the meeting pressed Defra hard to take steps to avert this major risk via shipments of produce. We are unhappy with an approach which is dependent principally on the actions of the localauthorities or on containment measures once SHB is found in the UK. We have insisted that Defra keeps us fully informed of developments and the measures put into effect to combat this threat with all vigour. We will share this information with members as and when received.
Dr David Aston
Chair BBKA Technical and Environmental Committee

 

[mbc]

If you check out beebase import data for 2014, you can see queens coming here from Australia which does have the beetle. It's a fair bet that colonies and packages will be banned or restricted but queen trade will continue from Italy, although I suspect demand would dry up severely anyway.

This is all assuming we don't have SHB here already. If we do then all bets are off.

I thought the only "third country" allowed to import into the UK was NZ, do you have a link to the data(please), I couldnt find it on beebase.

 

[mbc]

Well that strengthens the point. To spell it out: individual bee farmers are business people. But, collectively, UK beekeeping is not a business but a hobby. The "business" side of it contributes <14% of honey consumption and some proportion of pollination (ask Dave Goulson how much...). So no argument that this or that should be tolerated because of a strategic need for the industry holds up. <ADD>The concerns of "hobbyists" should dominate because collectively bee farmers are the same. If they could work out a way to quadruple output, then that would change.</ADD>

The only home grown honey to make it into official figures will be that sold in bulk, even for some quite large producers this will only account for a small proportion of their overall crop, I'd imagine most small and medium size honey enterprises dont even trouble the stats at all.
I agree that the concern of hobbyists and proffesionals in beekeeping should be alike, keep the bloody beetle out! Otherwise, I'm not exactly sure what point you're trying to make.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

The only home grown honey to make it into official figures will be that sold in bulk, even for some quite large producers this will only account for a small proportion of their overall crop, I'd imagine most small and medium size honey enterprises dont even trouble the stats at all.

I agree that the concern of hobbyists and proffesionals in beekeeping should be alike, keep the bloody beetle out! Otherwise, I'm not exactly sure what point you're trying to make.

I think most hobbyists will be more conservative than professionals on bee movements generally.