Petition parliament ban on honey bee imports

[jeff33]

Has Fiona been back since the posting?

Banned!!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Banned!!

Oh you rotten thing!

 

[Nige.Coll]

Maybe Fiona thought this was a beekeeping forum where all aspects of beekeeping can be discussed openly.
She has learned that lesson.
lmao.

 

[jeff33]

Oh you rotten thing!

Can you imagine if I had moderator's rights!?

 

[naxx3]

has anyone seen/signed this petition that was on The Bee Equipment Team website?

Help us to encourage the government to revise their decision on the ban of direct honeybee imports and stop the honeybee decline in the UK!

Banning imports of honeybees by the government has deprived new beekeepers of a healthy lifestyle, both mentally & physically, especially since lockdown began.

20-30% winter losses are expected to have occured during the 2020/21 winter - this is a staggering 70,000 beehives
that could be lost.

Importing bees is an integral part of future beekeeping and should not need to result in the unnecessary destruction of these beautiful pollinators that are so vital in all of our lives.


https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/573228?mc_cid=1f5841fbc5&mc_eid=901ddeb290

70,000 lost?! WOW, that's a lot.

 

[naxx3]

Well if you want to overturn the ban, maybe you could say ask them to let there be some kind of certification system like how they do when you ship sheep or cows to another state. (Certified by veterinarian, or...whatever that its healthy, and not africanized, etc.)

Does the petition to over turn the ban have some kind of cover your arse loop hole like this, to help them see reason?

(Not sure what's allowed to talk about or not over there. So sorry if I say anything wrong; don't know where the line is. But I do hope it works out for y'all.)

 

[Boston Bees]

70,000 lost?! WOW, that's a lot.

Don't worry, it's nonsense.

 

[Angry_Mob]

Well if you want to overturn the ban, maybe you could say ask them to let there be some kind of certification system like how they do when you ship sheep or cows to another state. (Certified by veterinarian, or...whatever that its healthy, and not africanized, etc.)

Does the petition to over turn the ban have some kind of cover your arse loop hole like this, to help them see reason?

That was always the case; at least when buying Queens outside the UK even pre-brexit, they always came with a health cert that would have been issued by that countries competent authority. I'm certain packages would have been no different.

 

[madasafish]

On the whole I think people who support petitions have a somewhat naive view that politicians give a damn.

 

[B+.]

That was always the case; at least when buying Queens outside the UK even pre-brexit, they always came with a health cert that would have been issued by that countries competent authority. I'm certain packages would have been no different.

Pre-Brexit, we had access to a system called TRACES - it tracked ALL animal movement throughout the EU (horse, cattle, sheep, bee...it made no difference). They all had health certificates and movements were notified to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) in advance, so if there were ever any doubt, the consignment could be intercepted and tested.
I receive island mated/instrumentally inseminated queens from Germany/Netherlands each year and have Certificates going back over 15 years.
We lost access to TRACES as a consequence of Brexit so, you could argue, the risk of something nasty being imported to the UK is greater now than it was before. The process was well understood before, and it worked for over 40 years.

 

[Mint Bee]

Pre-Brexit, we had access to a system called TRACES - it tracked ALL animal movement throughout the EU (horse, cattle, sheep, bee...it made no difference). They all had health certificates and movements were notified to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) in advance, so if there were ever any doubt, the consignment could be intercepted and tested.
I receive island mated/instrumentally inseminated queens from Germany/Netherlands each year and have Certificates going back over 15 years.
We lost access to TRACES as a consequence of Brexit so, you could argue, the risk of something nasty being imported to the UK is greater now than it was before. The process was well understood before, and it worked for over 40 years.

just another benefit of Brexit

 

[Hachi]

Can you imagine if I had moderator's rights!?

We'd rather not.

 

[Hachi]

70,000 lost?! WOW, that's a lot.

A mere drop in the ocean to how fast new beeks get thro nucs

 

[Boston Bees]

70,000 lost?! WOW, that's a lot.

Also, aren't you based in the US? 70,000 dead colonies is an average afternoon in the almonds isn't it?

 

[jmeilhan]

Do not agree with bee import so will not sign.
Why can't we do the job ourselves we have the experience in the Uk

 

[Angry_Mob]

Pre-Brexit, we had access to a system called TRACES - it tracked ALL animal movement throughout the EU (horse, cattle, sheep, bee...it made no difference). They all had health certificates and movements were notified to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) in advance, so if there were ever any doubt, the consignment could be intercepted and tested.
I receive island mated/instrumentally inseminated queens from Germany/Netherlands each year and have Certificates going back over 15 years.
We lost access to TRACES as a consequence of Brexit so, you could argue, the risk of something nasty being imported to the UK is greater now than it was before. The process was well understood before, and it worked for over 40 years.

The traces system is actually still applicable to in Northern Ireland; before this year I wasn't overly familiar with it but January proved to be a crash course in customs procedures for myself and many others here. Applicable to things like potatoes and farm machinery, two important imports to Northern Ireland.

As a thought I had originally thought that Queen bees coming from GB to Northern Ireland would only require the health certificate however I suppose on reflection a Traces NT notification would be required by the importer. Where as if I were to buy some nice German Carniolan's they will only need the health cert as before as the exporter would take care of the Traces.

 

[ericbeaumont]

Why can't we do the job ourselves we have the experience in the Uk

You're late to the party but there's time to catch up: read the recent thread European spite (it's only 19 pages) and this one on importation of bees and this one on how much to sell nucs for.

Digest especially the posts by ITLD, aka Murray McGregor, the biggest beefarmer in the UK and the one with most experience of volume queen production.

Short answer: it's more complex than it appears and if we could do the job ourselves we'd have done it by now.

 

[B+.]

The traces system is actually still applicable to in Northern Ireland; before this year I wasn't overly familiar with it but January proved to be a crash course in customs procedures for myself and many others here. Applicable to things like potatoes and farm machinery, two important imports to Northern Ireland.

As a thought I had originally thought that Queen bees coming from GB to Northern Ireland would only require the health certificate however I suppose on reflection a Traces NT notification would be required by the importer. Where as if I were to buy some nice German Carniolan's they will only need the health cert as before as the exporter would take care of the Traces.

I think it's true to say that Brexit has brought confusion and challenges to all of us. TRACES works well so use it while you can. The rest of us don't have that option anymore.
PM (or email) me if you'd like me to check out any breeding lines for you.

 

[B+.]

just another benefit of Brexit

I'm not sure how the loss of control over animal movement is, in any way, a benefit.

 

[Mint Bee]

Paul, good to see you post again. should have made it clear I was being sarcastic!!
so many aspects of normal everyday and business life have been impacted to get a blue passport and basically piss off our nearest and largest trading partner