Archived - Model Class Screening Report

The Importation of Certified European Honeybees to Canada

3.0 The Need for the Importation of Certified European Honeybees and a Description of Importation Practices

• 3.1 The Need for Importing Certified European Honeybees
• 3.2 Importation Practices
  • 3.2.1 Historical Context
  • 3.2.2 Varroa Mites
  • 3.2.3 Africanized Honeybees
  • 3.2.4 Import Protocols and Permits
  • 3.2.5 Import Seasons

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3.0 The Need for the Importation of Certified European Honeybees and a Description of Importation Practices

3.1 The Need for Importing Certified European Honeybees

In Canada, 13,000 beekeepers maintain more than 500,000 bee hives. Canadian beekeepers have one of the highest honey yields in the world as a result of a northern climate with long days, vast expanses of clover, alfalfa and canola, and by using sophisticated management practices.

Average honey production in Canada is 60 kg per hive, twice the world average. Canada is the fifth largest producer of honey in the world, behind China, the United States, Mexico, and Argentina. Honey is produced in all 10 provinces and territories and is currently valued at over $50 million (1998) in farm gate receipts. Alberta is the largest producer providing approximately 12.3 million kg per year, followed by Saskatchewan at 7.7 million kg, and Manitoba at 6.1 million kg. It takes 500 worker bees a full season to gather one pound of honey. For that pound, they will tap about two million flowers and fly more than 55,000 miles. Individual honeybees make 25 trips a day, visiting more than 1,000 flowers.

Honeybees also play an essential role in the pollination of fruits and vegetables which require insects to move pollen from plant to plant. Fruit and vegetable producers rent beehives from beekeepers in the spring to make sure this pollination takes place. It has been estimated that honeybees pollination contributes up to $500 million annually to agriculture production in Canada.

Honeybees also produce valuable non-food use products which include:

• beeswax for candles and in household products such as polishes;
• pollen, which is rich in protein and used as a diet supplement;
• propolis, which is becoming widely known and accepted as an ingredient in cosmetics and lip balms, as well as a tonic; and,
• royal jelly, a special feed produced by worker bees and fed to the queen bee, used in skin creams and lotions, and gaining a reputation as having a beneficial effect on aging skin creams and cleansers.

As honey and other non-food use products are a viable industry, it is necessary to maintain the bee hives. The Canadian honeybees industry is almost self-sufficient in bees, however, every winter many honeybees do not survive Canada's long cold winters, even after the hives have been winterized. Parasites also kill off a number of hives, decreasing the numbers of worker bees available to produce honey. As a result, Canada imports European honeybees to maintain the numbers required for honey production. Approximately 8,000 packages of honeybees,( two pounds of bees with a queen) and 150,000 queen bees are imported each year from Hawaii, New Zealand, and Australia.

3.2 Importation Practices

3.2.1 Historical Context

Prior to 1987, Canada imported European honeybees from a number of countries, including the United States. However, two significant events took place that changed Canada 's import practices such that only honeybees from Australia, New Zealand, and queen honeybees from Hawaii were permitted for import into Canada. The events were the spread and infestation of the deadly varroa mites, and the spread of an aggressive species of honeybees (Africanized honeybees) throughout the continents.

3.2.2 Varroa Mites

The Varroa mite (Varroa Jacobsoni) is a specialized parasite that only affects honeybees. With its specialized mouth parts it feeds on bee brood and adults. Its own brood development and life cycle is closely synchronized with bee brood development. Without mite controls, entire colonies would die.

The Varroa mite is found extensively throughout Europe and the United States. Canadian honey industry representatives worked closely with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to create international Import Requirements in an effort to stop the mite infestation from spreading through Canada. At present, there are numerous areas across Canada that have been infested by the mites (as well as other less common mites, such as the tracheal mite, which have also been imported into the country), however, there are still huge tracts of land in the country that are mite free. Each province has taken on the responsibility, through legislation and transportation policies, to control and eliminate the diseases that affect bee populations.

The countries of Australia and New Zealand are the only countries that have been proven to be mite-free, and thus offer Canada a disease-free source of European honeybees. The state of Hawaii has not been able to provide enough surveillance data to assure Canada that they are completely mite-free. However, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Canadian Association of Professional Apiarists (CAPA) have agreed that queen honeybees only could be imported into Canada from Hawaii as they are much easier to monitor for disease. In any event, Canada reserves the right to revoke these countries' honeybees export privileges if at any point in time the varroa mite is found in any of these countries.

3.2.3 Africanized Honeybees

Another problem that has the potential to impact honeybee populations and the honeybee industry is the infiltration of the Africanized honeybees into Canada. At present, Canada is closely monitoring the movement of Africanized honeybees in Central and South America, that are now being found in certain areas in the United States. This breed of honeybee is known to be very aggressive and potentially harmful for beekeepers and the public. For example, Africanized honeybees have been responsible for two deaths in Texas since 1990, 150 deaths in Mexico, and 1000 in Brazil since 1957. Besides being aggressive, Africanized honeybees can take over existing colonies of European honeybees and the European queens and their colonies are not able to survive the overwhelming competition from feral African populations.

The countries of Australia, New Zealand, and the state of Hawaii are all free of Africanized honeybees, once again making them eligible to export honeybees to Canada. However, should at some point in time Africanized bees be found in any of these countries, the right to import bees to Canada may be revoked.

3.2.4 Import Requirements and Permits

The current Canadian import process for the importation of European honeybees is as follows:

First, the importer must conduct an environmental screening to ensure that there will be no adverse environmental effects resulting from the importation of European honeybees into Canada. Second, the environmental screening is submitted to an Import Officer at CFIA who is responsible for making a decision in accordance with Section 20(1) of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. The screening is then forwarded to the Environmental Officer at CFIA Headquarters in Ottawa, Ontario.

Only after the CFIA has made a screening decision under CEAA, can the importer complete an "Application for Permit to Import Animals" which is required in accordance with the Health of Animals Act and Regulations. Next, the import officer must ensure that the importer has met the permit's detailed set of selection conditions prior to issuing the import permit. The conditions are for the "Import of Honey Queen Bees" and the "Import of Packages of Honeybees". These conditions, in part, specify the certification requirements, the health requirements, and the inspection requirements needed prior to importing European honeybees. These requirements are also spelled out in the individual Import Requirements that were derived for the countries of Australia, New Zealand, and the state of Hawaii.

The Import Requirements, which are tailored for each of the three honeybees exporters mentioned above, were created as a result of the ban on the importation of honeybees into Canada from the United States (January 1, 1988) under the Honeybees Prohibition Regulations of the Health of Animals Act. The Import Requirements are very rigid and lay out the conditions through which honeybees are certified (health certificate) and thus eligible for entry into Canada. For example, the following demonstrates in general terms some of the requirements for certification that the three countries must adhere to. Certification requires that:

• the bees are a product of the export country;
• mites and Africanized honeybees do not exist in the country;
• the bees are disease free;
• the bees are derived from an apiary, or apiaries, that are registered and comply with the National legislation and its amendments
• the food supplied for the bees during shipment does not contain honey;
• the bees will be shipped by air in accordance to the routes and rules outlined in each separate protocol; and,
• the bees will be inspected upon arrival in Canada.

Consequently, the certification process under the Import Requirements serves as a screening mechanism to ensure that imported bees are disease free and are an acceptable species.

3.2.5 Import Seasons

Import seasons in Canada for the importation of honeybees are usually only between the months of April through to the end of June. Rarely are honeybees imported after May as the bees must start collecting pollen early in the season and the queen bees need time to expand their colonies.