Excited......

[shibui]

I just heard a bloke on the radio the other day say he would be charged $10,000 to import one queen be and keep it in quarantine for 3 months. But it's not a money making exsersise.

1. Just because someone says something on a radio show does not make it correct.
2, Assuming this queen is a bee it may not be as simple as keeping one queen in a small cage. As a beekeeper I know that a queen bee cannot survive alone. It would have to be put into an existing hive and those bees allowed to fly, with food and water supplied daily. I don't know quarantine facilities but assume that would require a space with no other imports to prevent any possible cross contamination.
3. Maybe you have a good handle on the costs and overheads involved with keeping all these imports secure and separated and daily maintenance but I'm pretty confident the costs would not be low. Try calculating the cost of 3 months full service in a hotel room.
4. Look what the damage and costs last illegal import of queen bee has caused.

[treeman]

Just because someone says something on a radio show does not make it correct.

No it doesn't. However, he was a commercial bee keeper needing to introduce new genetic material into his swarms, and that's what he said. Why should I doubt it? Why should you doubt it?

Assuming this queen is a bee it may not be as simple as keeping one queen in a small cage.

Yep, one queen bee isolated in one small cage.

Maybe you have a good handle on the costs and overheads involved with keeping all these imports secure and separated and daily maintenance but I'm pretty confident the costs would not be low

The costs are pulled out of someone's arse. I know this because I have been told numerous times from orchid importers getting in plants in from the Philippines, Ecuador etc. The OWNER has to look after them. The AQIS people do nothing apart from write out an invoice and inspect and sign off at the end of the quarantine period. Most of the time they have no idea what they are looking at let alone how to treat them. They cannot identify insects, or any other diseases and don't even try. If they suspect something they simply incinerate without further investigation. It's too much work for them. In fact one importer went to the trouble of building his own quarantine facility to spec ( to save completely unnecessary mass plant slaughter by AQIS ) and eventually had to abandon the whole thing due to extravagant charges. He no longer imports. No one does for the same reasons.

Look what the damage and costs last illegal import of queen bee has caused.

And what does that have to do with the price of fish? I'm questioning the $10,000, not the need to quarantine bees.

[shibui]

No it doesn't. However, he was a commercial bee keeper needing to introduce new genetic material into his swarms, and that's what he said. Why should I doubt it? Why should you doubt it?

Just getting on radio doesn't make someone an authority. Anyone talking on radio has an agenda - some more than others- and, in my experience, most media choose to talk to those with sensational views wherever possible so anything said in the media needs to be questioned.

We actually have some of the best bee genetics in the world here. The only thing we don't currently have is Varroa resistant genetics. That's something that could be addressed by the industry as a whole rather than the costs resting on one individual.
On the other hand, if one breeder did have access to new varroa resistant strains of bee they could easily recoup the cost of import - 0nly 1000 queens sold at a $10 premium over normal prices covers that cost. Any extra sales would be cream.

[treeman]

Just getting on radio doesn't make someone an authority. Anyone talking on radio has an agenda - some more than others- and, in my experience, most media choose to talk to those with sensational views wherever possible so anything said in the media needs to be questioned.

Sorry, but this speculative ''argument'' has no weight and is not even accurate. You seem to be taking an opposing view just for the sake of it.

We actually have some of the best bee genetics in the world here. The only thing we don't currently have is Varroa resistant genetics. That's something that could be addressed by the industry as a whole rather than the costs resting on one individual.
On the other hand, if one breeder did have access to new varroa resistant strains of bee they could easily recoup the cost of import - 0nly 1000 queens sold at a $10 premium over normal prices covers that cost. Any extra sales would be cream.

Again, speculation as to the motives of the importer and completely irrelevant to the subject.