# Almond Board news and Yes it is true NO AU bees Allowed till ferther notice.



## Angi_H (Feb 9, 2008)

Hey guys I am fresh back form the California Almond board meeting and those rumors you are hearing about the AU package bees are correct. I called a few I knew were getting them for almonds this year and let them know already as soon as I herd, They found it was either N. cerena virus or one of the other n. virus disease. They also found varoa. They also said Apis cerana was found but still not quite know they dont want to say for sure. But the news is at this point in time all imports of AU package bees are not allowed to be imported. They may how ever allow them under a special circumstances with a quarenteen basis. They are wanting to lean toward that but it is still unknown. This was news from this Am About 11 30 pacific time. They are talking about a AQUIS Quarenteen. What ever that is. They are working to write up new protacal which has needed to be written for a while now. It could take a few weeks. BUt then it still might be an unknown depending on what testing shows.



On the other new front which the above is really important to many of you bringing bees out here for Almonds. Please everyone bear with me I am not the best writer and I took notes and sometimes they went faster with power point then I could write. But this is the New news from Almond Bloom 2009 and beyond. 

Water they are more pesamestic about it. It is not looking good do far. So pray for rain or do rain dances ( I threw that last one in)
Right now they are saying that water for Almonds for the Feb 15 date is allocated at 0% there after 15% with west side possible 40% best promise and guess at this time which means that many almond groves will go un touched. Either that or they are going to have to do some creative moving of water around to non priority crops or trees. Almond prices right now are at less then 1.50 a lb. And the input prices is up. Which means there will be no new groves planted and more will go abandoned. 

Contracts need to be in place before you make the move out here. They are saying that $150.00 tops is about what growers are fighting to not pay. But 1 35 to 140 may b the better picture. So far CCD usually rears its ugly head this time of year and so far things are not as bad as times past. Well at least for those that are reporting it. They would like more to report it so they can make better guesses on what is needed. 

There is also talk about if your contract says 8 frame avg there better be 8 frame avg or be looking for way way lower pay outs. As inspections will be almost manditory at that 150 price. Things have went from 50 a hive to 150 a hive an with water price and the price of fertilizers and the almond prices falling and falling fast growers are not wanting to pay the high prices they just can not afford it. Most might go with the bare min for pollination.

There is also talk in creating a CDC for bees. And that some sort of inspection process be in place and that the bees show they are healthy and strong or they will not go into almonds. As if the prices stay this high this is what the growers are going to want. They want to know they are getting top bees for the top dollar they are forking out. 

The Drug maker Bayer is talking about making up an advisory board made up of beekeepers. With the EPA and Bayer involved. They want to help. 

There is also new and up in coming bee testing that will be tried out with one large ca beekeeper of unknown name. It is called the bee chip through the Uc San fran. 

Bee Chip is specialized for detection of Arthropod Pathogens. DNA from every virus that affects bees and other insects will be on there. They will follow 20 hives from this ca big beekeeper From requeening in March through one years time. 50 bees per hive per week will be taken for testing with this new bee chip. So that they have a starting and baseline in case something happens. Then they can look back and see what might have lead up to the collapse. The bee Chip to identify known pathogens. Followed by DNA sequencing and are any novel paths present for the extent of the info. GPS tracking will be done on all 20 of the hives so that they can follow what went on and where they were for testing to see if one thing lead to a another. If the hive collapses they will have data and samples over the entire year or up until the collapse. They can follow what changed, they will use pesticide tracking as well, As well as what was there in the hive before with the very first sample right after requeening. They can also track the seasonality of the pathogens. They at some point in time maybe not every time but they will take some samples of every stage of the bees life from larvae to pupae to just hatching to worker. But for the most part every week will be just adult workers. 

Reports are web accessible with out passwords with live data protocols. Which means because this is state or even privet funded info will be available to you (or who was tested). There will be monthly Executive summery s and links to papers and other useful info on what was found in each weeks samples from that beekeepers page. There will also be feedback and question sections. Right now in March they will be starting the first test. And after that they will be able to follow and open it up to all beekeepers. 

Ok guys there is some info I missed as they moved very fast and the power point page would move on me. They promised they would get a copy of the power point graphics mailed or emailed out to me. I wrote as fast as my hands could write. And that is pushing it with the arthritis in my hands as it was cold. I barely made it there in time for the start of the first seminar. And pollination topics, And every thing bee related went on till almost lunch time. I was hoping for a few of you on here to join me there as I would have liked to meet everyone in person. I met a few other beekeepers as well as I talked to Sue Colby and a few of the lab people in Az. And I might be sending them samples from feral and survivor stock that I go and get from swarms and cutouts. There was allot of very very good info. And I wish I could have written faster. Or had a tape recorder as there was allot of info to absorb. 


Hope you guys find this helpful. If you have any questions please post them here and I will try to answer them. AS if you ask I might remember more on what was said. My brain works weard that way


Angi
Working hard to learn and to help all of you. If I had my laptop with me I would have posted just prior to lunch about the Au Bee packages. Or as soon as I herd which was 9:00am pacific time this year. I would have posted then if I had access to a computer then. But info is here now and now it is up to USA and Au to work things out.


----------



## high rate of speed (Jan 4, 2008)

*same old,same old*

Thanks for saving us $9.00

Undercutting is still going on and isnt going to change.
Aussie packages are just a small part of the crap beating out rentable hives.
Nothibg will change until there is a good shortage.The almond board meeting is just like any other keeper meeting,all of the FLUFF needs to stop,for placement of good hives.Bees are already beeing placed for $100 from north Dakota.Still alot of great bees available.:lookout::lookout::lookout:


----------



## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

Well.....
Good morning to you too HRS.


----------



## alpha6 (May 12, 2008)

Interesting development. It is like Tom L. and I were discussing. It doesn't matter how great the bees look now, its in Feb that counts and that is usually when the residual problems show up. Not having access to Aussi bees is going to hurt those who didn't prepare their bees correctly or shipped bees that weren't up to standards hoping they could beef them up with Aussi bees. I suspect that the demand will be strong for bees and the lock in are at $140 to $160 as I said before. And HRS unless you are from Calf. I don't see how you are clearing anything at $100 a hive with shipping costs as they are.


----------



## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

alpha6 said:


> I suspect that the demand will be strong for bees and the lock in are at $140 to $160 as I said before. .


Alpha, can you expand on that thought.


----------



## BEES4U (Oct 10, 2007)

*My brain works weard that way*

Thank you for the informantion!

FYI on the brain:
The brain can use trigger words to recal memory.
Ernie


----------



## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

I mentioned the 100 price to a friend, and he said he knew of 40.000 hives just signed up at 170. Sooooo....some hives aren't worth a hundred and others are worth more than 170 ,if a package of bees is 150! But in the end ,one just makes the best deal one can. But info is good to have.:thumbsup:


----------



## Tom G. Laury (May 24, 2008)

*Believe*

None of what you hear and only half of what you see

I bet you're wondrin how I knew
I heard it through the grapevine


----------



## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

LOL . But you gotta consider the source of all info. Some people are just full of bs .


----------



## Tom G. Laury (May 24, 2008)

*Balloons & Bubbles*

It strikes me how similar this bee marketplace is to many other aspects of our national economy. The almond demand for pollination has driven this surge in investment in the industry, racing to meet the demand before someone else does. I would guess a lot of money has been borrowed and invested in starting, expanding, rebuilding, etc., predicated on ever increasing fees. I know I liked the sound of $200 a piece Seems we may be watching a bubble burst or a "correction" as they say. Keith is that RB auction a bee outfit? I doubt it this time of year but look for them coming up. My wife said a couple years ago: " Be a lot of nearly new equipt for sale in a couple years". Well I guess that's enough pessimism for this morning.


----------



## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

You nailed it Tom.All booms are followed by busts. There is a LOT of construction equipment on the market now, following the housing collapse.The way things are going, we may be taking our pollination fees in 'lbs of nuts' by next year.:lookout::lookout:
But I see the lack of water as one of the biggest problems. There is NO snowpack here in the mountains at all this year(but some is coming next week).


----------



## Tom G. Laury (May 24, 2008)

*LoggerMike*

We'll be taking it in the nuts! Ha! Ow!

However if I was a big money commodity trader gambler I would buy all the almonds I could for that low 90 cent price right now. Doubt they will go much lower and we can easily have devastating freeze on bloom or pinkbud. See what a 50% drop in crop would do and don't forget it's TWO years until another. On the waterfront of course they worry BUT Cal gets on avg. 75% of it's precipitation in Jan, Feb,& March. Those are the big months for rain and snow.


----------



## Flathead Honey (Aug 1, 2007)

*Bubble bees?*

First thanks for the report.

As for price we are "locked in at 150" The keeper on one side of us is locked in at 170 and there is firm talk of us getting his contract next year. The broker on the other side of us is getting 145.00-same as last year. 

All bee keepers I work with are still trying to get there numbers back up to 1995 levels let alone make any real increase. The high price of honey last summer kept many beekeepers from making any increase at all. 

As long as there are plenty of US bees it is good the Aus are kept out. As it should be.

Thanks


----------



## high rate of speed (Jan 4, 2008)

Born and raised in ca Alpha.
Call it bs or call it what you want,But the picture from your window is different than out here in the beautiful fog country.


----------



## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

So can anyone confirm what Angie is reporting about the Aussie bees being banned?


----------



## high rate of speed (Jan 4, 2008)

Can anyone confirm the 40 thousand hives at $170.00.LOL


----------



## alpha6 (May 12, 2008)

HRS I wasn't calling it BS I was suggesting that 100 would be good for a Calf Beek but not practical for someone trucking in hives...unless you own your own truck. But hey, to each his own...I can't run everyones business.


----------



## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

high rate of speed said:


> Can anyone confirm the 40 thousand hives at $170.00.LOL


Now that's funny.

Hey HRS, at your Xmas party this weekend I'm going to ask everyone there, are they above or below the $150 rate.

Find out what this pole is after a couple of beers in them.


----------



## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

:lookout::lookout:haha. I just meant that that I didnt think this particular beek was full of bs-that I thought it credible.Im not in the 170 club(would like to be though). Do I get any beer?


----------



## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

loggermike said:


> that I didnt think this particular beek was full of bs-that I thought it credible.Im not in the 170 club(would like to be though).


LM, I know alot of beeks up north, and I don't know one that is getting 170. The only way I know how to get that is on Mike Rosso's grading program.


----------



## Tom G. Laury (May 24, 2008)

*The 170 Club*

You can sure spend a lot of money$$ growing that 4 bale cotton 

if you know what I mean


----------



## Tom G. Laury (May 24, 2008)

*Confirmation*

Call uh, what's his name...Bread Abee...he will confirm the deal!


----------



## high rate of speed (Jan 4, 2008)

Now that we are on the same level playing field.THANKS. for all the chit chat about high prices and all the pms I recieved about the price of bees for almonds.The slower the better nobody nows the end result lets keep it that way.Oh ya keith see you at the shop,a huge turnout is expected.:thumbsup:


----------



## high rate of speed (Jan 4, 2008)

Hey louie,
bring your spatula to,plenty of bbq going on.


----------



## Angi_H (Feb 9, 2008)

LIke I said before this Came right from the California Almond Board Meeting with quite a few beekeepers there not as many as I thought would be though. But with the prediction of 0% water allotment in feb and then only 15% there after there is going to be some almond orchards left out of the loop. And Growers with the below 1.50lb price for almonds and the high water prices and the expectations of 0-15% of the water allocated they are fighting the 150.00 price that was quoted by the Apiculturist for Ca. I forget his name. But he was the one speaking on this issue. And many of the Almond growers is balking at the 150.00 price. From a few people I talked with at the Meeting growers and keepers. 135 was the low with 150max pricing was out there. They are predicting that there will be plenty of bees available this year. As it was this time last year when CCD reared its ugly head. And so far the word has been good. People are getting a handel on things. But there is still another month and a half for things to go south. On my way home I passed a big simi going south on the 99 in Merced County. The Truck cab was blue. I dont remember the name on the cab. We are supposed to have rain from Sat afternoon through Wed next week. We shall see. Then after that we are supposed to see frosts with snow levels down to 1500 feet to 2000 feet. That will help but not in the long term picture or outlook. Things are looking bleek. They said that those that dont have contracts yet to go out and get those contracts signed. As you never know what grower will drop out with the picture that is out there now. The one good thing is fuel prices are down. But that is going to take a while to bring other things down. I am trying to rack my brain and think of the other things that I may have forgotten and the other news. But my mind is blank and I dont want to repete to much.


Angi


----------



## alpha6 (May 12, 2008)

Thanks Angi for all the great info. Wow...frost in the forecast. My bees are on vacation in Calf and the ones that didn't make the cut can expect -1 to -11 with wind chill next week. :lookout: Guess they won't be so slack building up next year. :no:


----------



## Angi_H (Feb 9, 2008)

Burrr you can have the -1-11 degree temps. That makes my back muscles spasum thinking of that cold. If only this fog would lift here. And now rain for the next 5 days Yuck. BUt then again if you look at it like they had said at the almond board the last 4 years we have har record crops. And the last 4 years we have had good winter temps. The last 3 years I have had Heirloom tomatoes after thanksgiving with a few frosty nights but not to bad. And then there is this year. I had heirloom tomatoes till Wed morning we had our first frost. This is the latest frost yet. There might be another year of record crops for Almonds. BUt like they also said during the meeting is it takes the right temps at the right times for the bees to fly to get the best crop out there. Bloom this year was 3 weeks late for the early almonds yet temps were fantastic at the right times the last 4 years to have record crops. All it would take is some freak freeze or frost at the wrong time to get a less then Avg year for the almonds and then prices for the growers could go back up again. Or it could be like a few years ago when it was Feb - April we had all our rain in those months and crops were only half of what they should have been. They said it takes the Almond blooms to be at 55 degrees before it will reliease its pollen. And it takes the bees around then to go out and collect pollen. So if those temps are off any it could mess everything up. Yes the last 4 years have been record crops with temps falling just at the right time. But things change and you never know when they will. It is all a waiting game.

Any Hoo 
Have a happy holidays
Angi


----------



## alpha6 (May 12, 2008)

See, this is why you need our Colorado bees. Mine were out every day once it broke over 40 degrees with sunshine. Heck 55 is almost like the middle of summer temps.  Just gotta train those almond trees to release their pollen when its colder and all will be fine.


----------



## Angi_H (Feb 9, 2008)

Hey my survivor and ferral stock has been out flying in the afternoons even if it is still a little foggy. And I had missed one hive putting on the entrance ruducer and when I went out last night after I got back from the almond board meeting I saw a mouse in the bottom of f the hive when I put the flash light down there. I had one of the reducers in my hand and I knocked on the hive and the bees started marching down the frames and attacked the mouse and it took off like a rocket as they came down and attacked it lol I was rotflmao. I put the reducer on when it left. I wish you could train almond trees. But the only way they would do that would be to make them a GMO Crop more then they are now and we dont need that and our bees dont need that either. 


Angi


----------



## brooksbeefarm (Apr 13, 2008)

*Big money vs.honeybee existence*

Have you heard that Aussie bees are not allowed to be shipped to the US until further notice?This will hurt the migratory beekeepers who make their living through pollination.What got my attention was either our government,Aussie gov.or the migratory beekeepers are trying to get a permit to allow a temporary quarantine process?They know these bees have varroa mites,apis cernia,and other unknown viruses,and for the sake of a few people making big money they are willing to risk making the honey bee survival harder in the US of A?Why can!t our gov.help the honey bee industry solve our own honey bee problems(afb,mites,viruses)so we can have our own healthy bees fore pollination.Politicians think they!ve got problems with all the bailouts,wait till people start going hungry(I pray not)because hungry people are dangerous people,and with all the job loss it can happen.I don!t blame the migratory beekeepers they keep food on the table and are trying to make a living,I blame the gov. for thinking about giving temporary quarantine permits and not solving our problems.If they don!t know what they!ve got(aussie bees) how do they know they can keep it from spreading by keeping it quarantined.(bees confined to a certain area)?It looks like to me the gov.is about to give us beekeepers something else to cope with as if we don!t have enough problems.Maybe i!m being pessimistic but I see trouble on the horizon.Jack


----------



## Tom G. Laury (May 24, 2008)

*Big Money*

The big dough is not in the pollinators. Big money is the almond industry one of our few export commodities of significance any more. But there are enough US bees apparently so the rationale for allowing them in would appear to be to lower costs somehow.


----------



## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

Here is a little background on the Aussie export procedure.
http://bee-quick.com/reprints/beepocalypse.pdf
NOT real confidence inspiring.


----------



## Tom G. Laury (May 24, 2008)

*Thanks Mike*

No it's not is it.


----------



## alpha6 (May 12, 2008)

Ranks right up there with the "certifying" agencies that certify USDA Organic on stuff in foreign counties.


----------



## MABee (Jun 18, 2007)

*Aussie packs*

Just received emails from two Aussie suppliers that said they could fill a package order if needed. Keep in mind I never asked in the email if the bees were not being let in th U.S. I just asked if they could still fill orders. ANSWER: yes


----------



## Angi_H (Feb 9, 2008)

That is only because they are being told that there might be a possability with them getting a special permit with a quarenteen process. You better believe it they are not going to say no till they hear more info later in the month. They dont want to loose any business till they get told for absolute sure that it is a no go. You better beliveve it they are gonna still tell you yes. TIll they get told no.

Angi


----------

