The border will remain closed to American bees, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced March 5.
An industry-driven push to uphold the import ban, in place since 1987 and reviewed every two years, is designed to delay the spread of the deadly varroa mite, which has wiped out colonies south of the border.
But according to an animal health expert with the CFIA, Canada is also hoping the ban will keep the aggressive Africanized bee and its genetics from calling Canada home.
“They’re probably not going to move into a more northern climate naturally, but the danger is they could mate with domestic bees and pass on the traits further north than it can travel itself,” said Bill McElheran, who works on the CFIA’s international trade team. Genetic spread could be quick since the African trait is the dominant gene, he added.
Read Also
How a cycling theory can help ranchers boost profits
By focusing on relatively simple, small changes, farmers and ranchers can see big results
There have been reports of Africanized bees in some of the major bee exporting states in the U.S., including Texas and California.
“They don’t cluster well to resist cold weather, unlike North American bees, so would have difficulty overwintering here,” he said. “But even if they can’t survive over the winter they could do genetic damage in the meantime.”
McElheran said African bees also produce less honey than domestic colonies. “We would see a drop in production and loss of money to beekeepers.”
Their introduction into Canada could hurt the industry in other ways.
“If I have a farm and there are bees close by on another farm and I find out they’re Africanized bees, I might not want them there,” he said.
“Beekeepers could be looking at a psychological effect of an open border when you look at how much danger is really there and how much the topic generates human paranoia.”
The ban, supported by the Canadian Honey Council and the national association of apiculturists, won’t prevent the introduction of varroa mites into Canada because they’re already here.
McElheran said the mites, which feed on the larvae and pupae of honeybees, are widespread in the U.S. but still under control in Canada.
Asking for trouble
“They already spread naturally, but the feeling was that to open the border and allow the artificial transport, or human movement of bees into Canada … you’re actually risking that you’re going to infect free areas of the province or country,” McElheran said.
The situation could get sticky if predictions that varroa mites are becoming resistant to their main killer are true.
Bee specialists in the southern United States say some mites seem unaffected by fluvalinate, the main chemical used to control infestations.
Research now is directed toward finding bee species that are resistant to the mites.
The ban, which does not extend to Hawaii, will be up for review again Dec. 31, 1999.
McElheran said it may not be as easy at that time to extend it.
“It gets harder and harder to justify border closure, in my opinion, as the mite becomes more widespread in Canada,” he said. “The wider the infestation, the harder it will be to justify.”
Honey production was worth more than $69 million to Canadian honey producers in 1996.
