Petition parliament ban on honey bee imports

[Newbeeneil]

This petition seems to have slightly more support!

http://chng.it/CtBdBBTsVt

 

[B+.]

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

Yeah. Sarcasm can get lost in the printed word. No problem ;-)

 

[Erichalfbee]

This petition seems to have slightly more support!

http://chng.it/CtBdBBTsVt

Perhaps we should start a petition to ban the import of fruit incase it introduces SHB

 

[Newbeeneil]

Perhaps we should start a petition to ban the import of fruit incase it introduces SHB

More likely from trees/plants in pots I think.
Interesting that the ban petition has about 30% more signatures than the reverse the ban one.

 

[elainemary]

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

Have seen, won’t be signing. Think banning imports is a good thing. Don’t want small hive beetle here Thankyou. The honeybee is not endangered and never will. Plant more nectar secreting plants if you want to save the bees

 

[fionastennings]

This really was the wrong post on the wrong forum wasn't it.

why?????

 

[fionastennings]

Yep. Never mind. Fiona wasn’t to know.

so tell me why please - dont just make a comment with no back up

 

[fionastennings]

Banned!!

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[Newbeeneil]

so tell me why please - dont just make a comment with no back up

Fiona,
If you had read the post concerning importation of bees you would have already known that most people had seen the petition and made some rather negative comments about it.
I think your mistake was posting without reading other threads.

 

[jeff33]

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I was only joking Fiona, I keep forgetting to add emoji. Most of us on here are against the import of bees for various reasons, preferences for home grown stocks but also because they can carry diseases and pests like the small hive beetle which we don't have here. This petition is purely based on financial gain and not for the greater good of bees which is why you are seeing so much sarcasm on this thread.

 

[Arfermo]

There is as much rubbish on these petitions lists as there is in Westminster.... I may start a petition to put an end on starting petitions!

Yes please and when?

 

[Erichalfbee]

so tell me why please - dont just make a comment with no back up

Fiona
The comment was not to you.
Sometimes/often/always these threads end up shooting the messenger which is what I was gently trying to avoid. Everybody here has been very good though. Jeff’s comment was a joke as all of us realised. Absence of emoji notwithstanding.

 

[pete darbyshire]

This petition is purely based on financial gain and not for the greater good of bees which is why you are seeing so much sarcasm on this thread.

Be careful...last time I posted a comment similar to this it was removed, and I was accused of inciting litigation!!

 

[Murox]

Be careful...last time I posted a comment similar to this it was removed, and I was accused of inciting litigation!!

Perhaps in a litigious society, yes; but as an explanation it did seem to be apt. ~ a spade is still a spade ~

 

[John Taylor]

As one of those back garden beekeepers and a newbie to boot, I have no intention of buying imported bees there are plenty of home raised queens and nucs to be bought from reliable BBKA members. So no, I will not be signing their petition.

 

[Into the lions den]

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.

Spot on.

There is a very good certification process that had to be followed and with that the NBU knew where every package went and did/could do checks as they saw fit. We provided the NBU with a spreadsheet of all recipients....including handover point, address, phone number, number of packages, copy of the individuals TRACES certificate.(all recipients got individual papers of taking 10..a generic one for the ones and twos people). They then knew everything and could organise to meet and inspect or otherwise oversee every stage of the process. I even offered to take a senior bee inspector to Italy with me to see the process in its entirety. (was declined btw...for very valid reasons well explained to me..had to be seen not to get too cosy with any individual in the trade)

There were some problems around one particular exporter from the south who had problems getting export papers and found various ways round that, but all in the trade knew who they were and the ways it was done AND the NBU were given the information.

In general it is a well regulated and safely conducted trade.

You need to taker one look at the EFB and AFB maps for the UK..and realise that nucs from within a few miles of any find may be carrying subclinical disease (which may or may not ever manifest itself) and that they all move with ZERO official certification..to realise that the imported package may well be the LEAST risky.

We get all knotted up about two tropical and subtropical pests (Aethina and Tropilaelaps) that are highly unlikely to establish well here..and forget the older killers that are already widespread. EFB AFB Nosema Varroa....any UK nuc may be carrying any or all of these at undetectable levels..you just do not know.

Its not great to wash your dirty linen in public but one reason I am wary of nuc sales and indeed stopped doing it is that we inadvertantly sold some nucs that a few of which seem to have been carrying sub clinical EFB (they were well inspected by ourselves and by inspectors) and at their destination were put into a high stress situation...and some time later EFB cropped up in a couple of them. No evidence at time of sale...but it seems to have been there....hence we now no longer sell nucs.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

there are plenty of home raised queens and nucs to be bought from reliable BBKA members.

 

[Apple]

Spot on.

There is a very good certification process that had to be followed and with that the NBU knew where every package went and did/could do checks as they saw fit. We provided the NBU with a spreadsheet of all recipients....including handover point, address, phone number, number of packages, copy of the individuals TRACES certificate.(all recipients got individual papers of taking 10..a generic one for the ones and twos people). They then knew everything and could organise to meet and inspect or otherwise oversee every stage of the process. I even offered to take a senior bee inspector to Italy with me to see the process in its entirety. (was declined btw...for very valid reasons well explained to me..had to be seen not to get too cosy with any individual in the trade)

There were some problems around one particular exporter from the south who had problems getting export papers and found various ways round that, but all in the trade knew who they were and the ways it was done AND the NBU were given the information.

In general it is a well regulated and safely conducted trade.

You need to taker one look at the EFB and AFB maps for the UK..and realise that nucs from within a few miles of any find may be carrying subclinical disease (which may or may not ever manifest itself) and that they all move with ZERO official certification..to realise that the imported package may well be the LEAST risky.

We get all knotted up about two tropical and subtropical pests (Aethina and Tropilaelaps) that are highly unlikely to establish well here..and forget the older killers that are already widespread. EFB AFB Nosema Varroa....any UK nuc may be carrying any or all of these at undetectable levels..you just do not know.

Its not great to wash your dirty linen in public but one reason I am wary of nuc sales and indeed stopped doing it is that we inadvertantly sold some nucs that a few of which seem to have been carrying sub clinical EFB (they were well inspected by ourselves and by inspectors) and at their destination were put into a high stress situation...and some time later EFB cropped up in a couple of them. No evidence at time of sale...but it seems to have been there....hence we now no longer sell nucs.

Its not great to wash your dirty linen in public but one reason I am wary of nuc sales and indeed stopped doing it is that we inadvertantly sold some nucs that a few of which seem to have been carrying sub clinical EFB (they were well inspected by ourselves and by inspectors) and at their destination were put into a high stress situation...and some time later EFB cropped up in a couple of them. No evidence at time of sale...but it seems to have been there....hence we now no longer sell nucs.

Always a concern when selling nucs.... my biggest concern has been the recent indiscriminate and completely unnecessary sale of nucs to novice beekeepers for a knock down £60 or so... collected, apparently not quarantined( timing... they would have had to have been overwintered) and sold on in an area with a high incidence of EFB

Call for compulsory registration of flocks/herds and hives!

 

[Newbeeneil]

I must say that this subject has had me thinking about my attitude to the importation of bees and I have come to the following conclusion.
In preference I would prefer not to import bees mainly due to the possible introduction of pests ( I take your point re tropilaelaps etc Murray, but I'm sure we may we'll have said the same about the Asian hornet a few years ago.) but I accept that there are established businesses within the UK that require the regular purchase of queens to enable the business to remain profitable. And of course queens pose a only a very minor threat to bio security.
In conclusion I think the situation we have at present seems an ideal compromise between the ban import camp and the import bees contingent.
What has really pissed me off is that BE think that they can run rough shod over the law of the land to the detriment of the other importers of bees who are abiding by the law.
Whatever is decided over the next few years I hope it will lead to a more secure and healthy outcome for the UK Bee community.

 

[Apple]

I must say that this subject has had me thinking about my attitude to the importation of bees and I have come to the following conclusion.
In preference I would prefer not to import bees mainly due to the possible introduction of pests ( I take your point re tropilaelaps etc Murray, but I'm sure we may we'll have said the same about the Asian hornet a few years ago.) but I accept that there are established businesses within the UK that require the regular purchase of queens to enable the business to remain profitable. And of course queens pose a only a very minor threat to bio security.
In conclusion I think the situation we have at present seems an ideal compromise between the ban import camp and the import bees contingent.
What has really pissed me off is that BE think that they can run rough shod over the law of the land to the detriment of the other importers of bees who are abiding by the law.
Whatever is decided over the next few years I hope it will lead to a more secure and healthy outcome for the UK Bee community.

Bee careful what you wish for!!