US embassy cable - 03MONTREAL743

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MONTREAL 000743 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USDA FAS FOR FAS CMP/HTP 
USDA FOR USDA APHIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR, ECON, EIND, ETRD, PREL, CA, Environment, Trade 
SUBJECT: Varroa Parasite Infests Quebec Honeybee Hives 
 
1. SUMMARY: Quebec's honeybee population is under threat from a 
Varroa Mite parasite infestation that will likely reduce the 
province's modest honey production. Quebec beekeepers' ability 
to combat the mite has been limited by delayed discovery of the 
parasite's resistance to the widely used pesticide Fluvalinate, 
and restricted access to the Coumaphos pesticide used in the 
U.S. and other Canadian provinces.  Though media reports 
suggested the Varroa infestation could have a negative impact 
on pollination of Quebec fruit orchards, local experts believe 
provincial harvests this year will remain stable.  However, if 
the bee population continues to decline, Quebec fruit producers 
will have to develop other cultivation methods.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. Quebec's honeybee population is being ravaged by a tiny, 
bloodsucking parasite called the Varroa Mite, which destroys 
the bees' reproductive cycle.  The mite has been in Canada for 
approximately 15 years, and about 8 years in Quebec, kept under 
control primarily by use of the pesticide Fluvalinate.  Last 
Fall, however, the Ministere de l'Agriculture, des Pecheries et 
de l'Alimentation du Quebec (MAPAQ), Quebec's Department of 
Agriculture, reported that the Varroa Mite had developed 
resistance to Fluvalinate, according to Dr. France Desjardins, 
a veterinarian and an expert in insect diseases with the MAPAQ. 
 
3. The province's beekeepers estimate that as a result of the 
mite's recently increased resistance to Fluvalinate, they have 
lost 40 to 60 percent of their bee populations this year. 
MAPAQ also says that the cold April weather killed off many 
already debilitated colonies. 
 
4. U.S. beekeepers have lived with the Varroa mite for over 20 
years, controlling it through the use of the pesticide 
Coumaphos.  Pesticide use is not yet fully harmonized between 
the U.S. and Canada, and use of Coumaphos is allowed only 
through a permit issued by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency 
(CFIA).  Several other Canadian provinces began to use 
Coumaphos last year when they discovered resistance problems 
with Fluvalinate, and have had favorable results.  MAPAQ 
applied for a permit on behalf of Quebec beekeepers after it 
discovered the mites' resistance to Fluvalinate, and CFIA 
approved the application in March 2003. 
 
5.   According to Peter Keating, a Quebec-based commercial 
beekeeper and former inspector for MAPAQ, one reason for Quebec 
being later to detect the Fluvalinate resistance may be that 
MAPAQ does not employ a full-time bee expert.  Ontario, by 
comparison, employs a full-time expert and inspector and 
discovered the resistance problem in the summer of 2001, in 
time to devise new strategies against the mite. 
 
6.   According to Statistics Canada, Quebec ranks sixth among 
Canadian provinces in honey production (Saskatchewan, Alberta 
and Manitoba are the leading producers), accounting for about 
$3 million of the $70 million of honey produced in Canada each 
year.  A potentially more significant effect of a decline in 
Quebec's bee population would be on the province's agricultural 
industry, as many orchards rely heavily on the bees' 
pollination process for fruit cultivation.  According to 
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the estimated dollar value of 
honeybee pollination to Canadian agriculture was worth over 
$C18 billion in 2000, $C1 billion of that in Quebec.  Quebec- 
based apiarists generated about 6 percent of their revenues 
from the rental of their hives for pollination last year. 
 
7.   Laurent Pellerin, president of the Union des producteurs 
agricoles du Quebec (Quebec Union of Agricultural producers), 
believes the Quebec government should provide some financial 
assistance to beekeepers whose hives have been infested. 
However, Keating says that since there is no compulsory 
registration for beehives in Quebec, neither the MAPAQ nor any 
other government agency has a way of verifying compensation 
claims. 
 
8.   The decline in Quebec's honeybee population cannot be 
solved by importing replacement honeybees from the U.S.  The 
CFIA has prohibited live bee imports from the United States 
(with the exception of Hawaii) since 1987, believing that 
almost 100 percent of U.S. bee colonies are infested with 
Varroa mites.  In an assessment report issued in March 2003, 
the CFIA deemed importation of U.S. queen honeybees too high- 
risk to permit, because Fluvalinate-resistant Varroa mites are 
widespread in the United States and Coumaphos resistance is 
emerging.  The report determined that Coumaphos-resistant 
Varroa mites would become widespread throughout most honey- 
producing areas much more rapidly if Canada allowed importation 
of U.S. honeybees. 
 
9.   Former MAPAQ inspector Keating suspects some individual 
Quebec beekeepers are illegally importing U.S. queen bees, and 
believes that allowing importation of these bees would "open a 
Pandora's box" of infestation that could devastate the Quebec 
bee population, if mites resistant to Coumaphos were to breed 
with those resistant to Fluvalinate.  In the past ten years 
outbreaks of infestations have hit both Michigan and New York 
rather hard, but in both cases the industry was able to 
replenish itself, Keating claimed.  "Quebec and Canadian 
beekeepers should learn from these experiences and develop 
defense strategies over the long-term.  Importation would be a 
short-term solution with damaging long-term prospects," he 
said. 
 
10.  Jollin Charest, agronomist for the MAPAQ, told post he 
does not believe the lack of bees will greatly affect the 
pollination process for fruit orchards this year.  Charest says 
apple orchards are struggling to find beehives, but says some 
are finding alternative methods, while others are not using 
them at all.  Charest estimates that only 20 percent of apple 
tree flowers need to be pollinated by honey bees in order to 
have a good crop year; other local insects, wind, wild bees or 
bumblebees can serve as alternative pollinators.  While it is 
still too early in the year to estimate whether lack of 
honeybees will have a big impact on the fruit harvest, Charest 
expects a relatively stable season with little loss.  Gerald 
Chouinard, of the Institute for Agro-Environment Research and 
Development, concurs with Charest regarding this year's harvest 
but says if the bee population continues to decline, Quebec 
fruit producers will have to develop other cultivation methods. 
 
KANTER