Is it time to stop importing live bees?

[Anduril]

I cannot see local areas meeting the growing demand for queens, nor can I see the UK being flooded with Cornish queens. If there was a ban it would end up being lifted, because the logistics will be left wanting.

 

[madasafish]

If an import ban was to be made law and then punitive measures actively seen to be used against those who tried to circumvent the law then by necessity it would be almost immediate.
Edit: as in, if a ban was brought in now, every queen needed could be produced and ready for mating by mid April, raising queens is not rocket surgery and anybody with the required skills could easily scale up.
Breeding and improving the stock would take a little longer but not by many seasons if we could get a critical mass of bee breeders working on the same page.

Err that date may be OK for Wales..

But here we don't start QR till May (no drones for a start).. and I imagine other more Northern areas would be similar..

 

[For want of a better word]

It is statements like this that raise tensions in the forum. Why can't you accept that we all have the right to do what we want?

You can do whatever you want, but as I understand it, you are not importing bees from "wompopoland", but doing some very important science... most certainly not importing bees because they are cheap and available early in the season.

Sorry if my post upset you, that was not the intention at all.

Simply making the point that perhaps expectations from beginners and some others need to change?

Cheers

 

[For want of a better word]

I cannot see local areas meeting the growing demand for queens, nor can I see the UK being flooded with Cornish queens. If there was a ban it would end up being lifted, because the logistics will be left wanting.

I have my doubts if the Cornish Varient of Amm would be suited to some areas of the UK.
However there is a beekeeper down the line from me rearing Aml / hybrids, and by using II seem to be producing a lot of queens /nucs for sale!

 

[Beefriendly]

so I import cheap bees from wompopo land

Isn't that where Jenks is at the moment?
No doubt working on his sun tan

 

[drex]

Just as well that is highly unlikely to happen.
Last thing I need is to be condemned to using my local mongrel bees.
I'd have to increase hive numbers at least four fold just to generate the same amount honey.

My friend who has kept bees for many years and is a good beekeeper, buys queens from a very reputable supplier. His honey crop is a bit bigger than mine, but not by much, and could possibly be due to where he lives, or that I am not as skilled as he is. As already said I select from my own mongrel bees and am happy with the traits of my bees.
However, each to their own. I enjoy fiddling about with queen rearing and more importantly, whatever the time of year, always have spare queens to hand.

 

[For want of a better word]

Isn't that where Jenks is at the moment?
No doubt working on his sun tan

Cussword
13th June 2015, 09:32 AM
Careful. - wompopo land might be close to bongobongo land and politicians get punished for mentioning that hallowed territory

Is the former the land that has the Limpopo river that's all set about with fever trees?

Far far away from the
GreatgreygreengreasyslimeyTamarriverallsetaboutwithgwenenduavriaKelliwick!

Yeghes da

 

[Erichalfbee]

Isn't that where Jenks is at the moment?
No doubt working on his sun tan

No

 

[B+.]

You can do whatever you want, but as I understand it, you are not importing bees from "wompopoland", but doing some very important science... most certainly not importing bees because they are cheap and available early in the season.

Sorry if my post upset you, that was not the intention at all.

Simply making the point that perhaps expectations from beginners and some others need to change?

Cheers

We all know there is no such place, but, you did criticize German/Dutch queens (https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=698112&postcount=138 ) which I do import.
All this crazy talk about banning one bee or another is just talk - crazy talk! You have neither the support nor influence so I ask why do you do it? The only plausible answer I can think of is to irritate other members of the forum. All this will do is cause more trouble. It makes no sense.

 

[mbc]

Err that date may be OK for Wales..

But here we don't start QR till May (no drones for a start).. and I imagine other more Northern areas would be similar..

Yes you're right, but "could" in answer to a hypothetical question about the logistics of the exercise and it still stands.
FWIW I think the cream of my queen matings take place second half of May till summer solstice.

 

[Beefriendly]

However, each to their own. I enjoy fiddling about with queen rearing and more importantly, whatever the time of year, always have spare queens to hand.

Well said Drex, each to their own.
I also enjoy fiddling with queen rearing using one or two quality queens as the mothers for the queens making up the rest of my apiary. All part of the fun and frustration with the UK weather.
Honey yields are difficult to compare between strains and apiaries. The amount of forage is so variable over small distances and the number of hives within an apiary can also has an effect.
You really need to compare and contrast similar sized colonies in one single apiary over a couple of years to get any idea as to whether your strain is a honey monster or not. Which is what I've done with several strains over many years. It's why I now import a couple of queens every couple of years of a certain pedigree or sometimes buy queens from UK queen rearer's who have breed theirs from similar quality pedigree imports.

 

[For want of a better word]

I can see this thread like so may similar ones in the past get the THREAD CLOSED stamp...

....as the daggers are drawn and any reasoned debates fly out of the window....


Chons da

 

[B+.]

any reasoned debates fly out of the window....

You're hardly likely to get a "reasoned debate" from such a loaded question. It would be like posing the question "should beekeepers be banned from rearing queens"?

 

[mbc]

You're hardly likely to get a "reasoned debate" from such a loaded question. It would be like posing the question "should beekeepers be banned from rearing queens"?

It's good to have the debate though, just to get the issues aired, I've no real expectations of any sort of reasonable import restrictions but am happy to play the part of devil's advocate.

 

[SDM]

It's good to have the debate though, just to get the issues aired, I've no real expectations of any sort of reasonable import restrictions .

Why not? We already have them.

 

[Anduril]

I have my doubts if the Cornish Varient of Amm would be suited to some areas of the UK.
However there is a beekeeper down the line from me rearing Aml / hybrids, and by using II seem to be producing a lot of queens /nucs for sale!

Did ITLD get his Cornish queens to test?

 

[B+.]

It's good to have the debate though, just to get the issues aired, I've no real expectations of any sort of reasonable import restrictions but am happy to play the part of devil's advocate.

It's that word "reasonable" that confounds us. Most people would say the current system is a reasonable balance between caution and free trade. The problem is: it ceases to become a democracy when the state restricts free-choice.

 

[For want of a better word]

Did ITLD get his Cornish queens to test?

I did not send any ( never received a request) and have absolutely no intention of doing so as I do not think they would thrive in the conditions they have in the Trossacks or wherever the ILTD bees are kept.

From the OP....
Imported queens however offer short term convenience early in the year.
about hits the nail squarely on the head!

I hope to take some Cornish Amm to the heather, to see how they do ... what little heather there remains on Dartmoor!

 

[B+.]

Did ITLD get his Cornish queens to test?

That's going back a while now. As some of you may know, he had some issues last year so didn't bring in any new queens.
I sent him 2 open-mated daughters from one of my Amc test queens. One was not accepted. The other went on to make the J5 line (https://twitter.com/Bplus_Amc/status/974226676241530880 ).
Other opportunities exist but I don't really want to talk about them here/now.

 

[B+.]

I did not send any ( never received a request) and have absolutely no intention of doing so as I do not think they would thrive in the conditions they have in the Trossacks or wherever the ILTD bees are kept.

It was the same offer we all received. Back in 2017, ITLD asked anyone who believed their stock may have something to offer to send him a couple of queens. I did. If you didn't, you missed an opportunity for an impartial assessment. He was pleased with mine.