News from AHPA
This is meant to provide some clarification to the issue of shipping U.S. honey bee packages into Canada.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is in charge of allowing or not allowing U.S. packages into Canada. In 2013, the CFIA conducted a Risk Assessment on importing U.S. packages into Canada, evaluating a number of disease concerns and risk thresholds vs. assessed impact on the Canadian beekeeping industry. The conclusion of the 2013 Risk Assessment was that importing packages from the U.S. was a greater risk vs. reward to Canadian beekeepers, and so the border remained closed to U.S. packages. The CFIA will not allow U.S. packages to enter Canada without a favorable Risk Assessment.
Significant overwintering losses over the 2021/22 Winter, where Canadian beekeepers experienced a reported 45.5% loss, has increased the call for CFIA to re-evaluate the Risk Assessment. The common theory for the high over-wintering loss is a very warm Spring in 2021, and very warm Fall, which provided Varroa mites a much longer reproductive cycle that typically seen in Canada – typically brood is present for six to seven months, mid March-early October. The provinces of Alberta and Manitoba had the highest over-wintering losses, and beekeepers from those provinces have led the push for the current call to open the Canadian border to U.S. packages. While most other provinces have shown opposition to opening the border to U.S. packages, some have also indicated support for CFIA to perform another Risk Assessment. CFIA has indicated this is not a priority for them at this time.
A small group of beekeepers have continued to push for the opening of the border to allow packages into Canada, and have been pushing for this since the border closed in 1987. In a year of significant overwinter losses, there is a larger call for the border to open; further, in a year with high honey prices ($2.35-$2.55 USD) but with high Winter losses, there is a perceived greater loss as beekeepers are thinking about ‘what could have been’.
Prior to COVID, Canadian beekeepers were importing approximately 30,000-35,000 (1kg) packages annually, mostly from Australia and New Zealand, but more recently also from Chile. In 2020 and 2021, airline and travel issues caused a significant decrease in packages arriving to Canada, with a total of approximately 22,000 (1kg) packages arriving in those two years combined. That being said, even though Canada had roughly 80,000 fewer packages arrive, 2021 saw Canada with the highest number of hives in the last 25 years at nearly 800,000. This is likely because Canadian beekeepers are beekeeping with a proactive attitude and building more nucs the prior year, overwintering them, and then running them as hives the following year. This is reducing the quantity of packages needed to sustain the industry, even in years with higher losses.
Much of the opposition from Canadian beekeepers to U.S. packages comes from a concern about disease or pest issues that have not been noted in local jurisdictions. Oxy-tet resistant AFB, Tylosin resistant AFB, Small Hive Beetle, Varroa resistance to Amitraz, Africanized Honey bee genetics (AHB) and EFB have not been noted in many jurisdictions in Canada. Many Canadian beekeepers are hesitant to allow packages which may introduce new pest or disease pressures to the local beekeeping industry. Beekeeping is becoming a much more difficult occupation than in past years and introducing possible new pests will only result in additional workload and costs.
It should be noted that the U.S. currently also has a Risk Assessment to evaluate bee imports into the U.S. The export of Canadian packages and Canadian queen bees to the U.S., while technically allowed, is logistically nearly impossible due to the protocols and timing of required inspections by U.S. APHIS inspectors.
Simon Lalonde – Canadian Liason,
American Honey Producers Association
Hello, fellow AHPA members.
First of all, what a crazy almond pollination season! After many were talking about a glut of hives, it ended up being one of the shortest supplies in the last 10 years. The biggest story was higher than normal losses. Many members I talked to lost double their normal loss or a higher percentage this year coming out of the Idaho/Utah sheds (us included). Was it too many mites going in? Higher virus loads? A new Bee Paralysis virus that is showing up in most of the samples sent into labs? Drought in the Dakotas and Montana? Or just a combination of all those things? Adding to the losses were that less hives were shipped in from Florida due to the hurricane. Maybe it’s wise to just expect our operations to have bad Winter losses about every four to five years, even with more pollen patties, replacing queens, adding new bee feeds, etc.
Big growers short on hives were calling around looking for anything, even two-framers so that they could get covered for crop insurance. There are still a lot of acres of almonds coming into production to take the place of the old orchards being pulled. January was the third highest almond shipment total for the industry on record, so they are moving product, prices have gone up 30-40 cents per pound as of mid-March and we finally got above-average snow/rain totals this Winter. At my orchard here in central CA, we are at around 10 inches for January and February, which is more than all of last year. We’ve seen flooding and even snow on the valley floor, with many mountain communities cut off due to snow. At the time of writing this, Yosemite National Park has been closed for two weeks with no date yet to reopen due to snow. Below-normal bee flight hours in almonds will mean a smaller crop and higher prices. However, sage/orange crops will benefit from the increased rainfall, and our bees will benefit by foraging on cover crops planted in almonds after bloom and on wildflowers. This is obviously all good news for California beekeepers.
The sad news is SO MUCH rainwater has turned into salt water! Instead of capturing this much-needed rain, it went out to the ocean. The capacity to capture rainwater in weather events like this has not improved for 40 years here. The San Joaquin, Kings and Fresno Rivers in my area have run at high capacity for weeks because the dams are full. Frustrating, to say the least.
Another hot topic has been the push to open the border again for packages to Canada. At the start, AHPA’s stance was neutral, as we had nothing in writing from the concerned parties and a lot of hearsay flying around. After more discussions, AHPA has changed our position to state that we will support packages going back into Canada, as long as they stop getting packages from Australia and other at-risk countries that are in close proximity to countries with Tropi mites. There are reports out of Australia that varroa was in their country 12 months before they detected it. The same could happen with Tropi as packages come into Canada. Another reason the new policy would be in the Canadians’ best interest is that Aussie packages are older Fall bees and American packages would be new Spring ones (with queens they are already getting). In the end, this issue is up to the CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency).
As for the dumping suit, the appeals are filed for the low Indian rate as well as three appeals by packers on critical circumstance with Vietnam. Argentine and Brazilian packers are also appealing their rates. We still need more money to finish these appeals. We appreciate those that continue to donate to help see this through. Some of you have chosen to set up quarterly payments. Thank you! Please consider another nickel a pound for 2023. It looks like it should be a good crop in the midwest this Summer!
To finish, we will be going to Capitol Hill in May to keep up the good fight. FSA is being a little difficult not following the ELAP payment/loss rates Congress directed them to follow… stay tuned. This will be a focus along with getting more funding for lab research. Also, CRP/forage, H2A visa reform, updating the grading standard and country of origin labeling are among the issues we will be working on as we do the rounds with Eric Silva in DC.
As always, I enjoy hearing from you. Email/call me with concerns you have. Be safe moving bees, lifting boxes (our backs are all getting older), making nucs and producing queens. I love the hard-working, can-do-attitude our members have.
Chris Hiatt – President, American Honey Producers Association
We present several great awards during our conference, the most memorable being our Beekeeper of the Year Award! This year, former AHPA President, Kelvin Adee, was the recipient.
Kelvin is a true friend, in and out of the beeyard, who cares deeply about the U.S. honey industry! Kelvin and Adee Honey Farms have had an undeniable impact on the honey industry through their advocacy and love for honey bees. As passionate as he is about the industry, Kelvin is devoted to his family, and loves spending time with (i.e., spoiling) his grandchildren. We couldn’t be more thrilled to honor him with this award! It is well deserved and hard earned. We love having Kelvin and the Adee’s as a part of the AHPA family!
Another great distinction awarded at our conference is the Friend of the Industry Award. We were proud to honor Kevin Rader with it this year!
Kevin has been a loyal friend to beekeepers across the U.S. and the beekeeping industry for many years. A former state senator, Kevin was instrumental in helping beekeepers get access to rainfall insurance and has generously supported the antidumping suit. We enjoyed getting to see Kevin this year and couldn’t be prouder to call him our friend!
This year, our members took a break from the everyday worry and hit the golf course! There were only a few participants with golf experience, but AHPA’s 1st Annual Golf Tournament was a buzzing success! Spending time outdoors—out of a bee suit—with good friends gave our members a chance to catch up on life beyond the beeyard.
There was so much laughter, banter, and friendly competition, we didn’t even make it through the whole course! Although a lot of golf balls ended up missing and few (if any) made par, we loved starting out our conference on such a positive, laid-back note.
Start brushing up on your swing and bring your clubs to San Diego! We’ll see you on the course for our 2nd Annual Golf Tournament, December 4th, 2023.
Mattie Joiner – American Honey Producers Association Media Specialist
