Agriculture committee  I can only speak for my own particular business, but I get inspected in all three states that I go to. I get inspected in New York state and in Florida, and I get inspected when my bees go to California. I think it's more rigorous than most people understand. To my understanding, 29 states have some sort of registration and inspection program.

Agriculture committee  I think it's very important, actually, to work that way. In the United States, I think we are set up to inspect some of these companies that could potentially ship bees into Canada, and there is no reason that we couldn't meet the requirements that are needed to enter Canada. I think it's a no-brainer, as far as I am concerned, to try to work within North America.

Agriculture committee  We have inspections that vary from state to state. Some states, of course, work harder to inspect the bees. About 20 years ago, the United States government started a pollen analysis program in which we sample hives yearly to determine what chemicals are coming into the hive. There were two or three in the pollen 20 years ago, and now there are upwards of 20 or more.

Agriculture committee  The American Beekeeping Federation has several members who are Canadian beekeepers. They come down to our annual convention every year. Most of the pests in that risk assessment, I think, are already in Canada. That is my understanding anyway. Things like varroa resistance are very minor.

Agriculture committee  I would. I think we should work together, share science and see whether we can make this happen. Obviously, being proactive is far better than being reactive. If we get into a situation where we have to react to the tropilaelaps mite, it's going to be catastrophic for our industry.

Agriculture committee  There's none that I know of. Certainly, we're more than willing to work through USDA and into Canada on any science we have. We can make that available to you. I think it's important to understand—and I agree with you completely—that the bees can fly right across the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Agriculture committee  I think some of the older risk assessments are outdated. Therefore, I don't think a current risk assessment would show the same problems as the same risk assessment from 10 years ago. I really think that it would be fairly safe for Canada to import packages from the United States.

Agriculture committee  Good afternoon. My name is Dan Winter. I'm a second-generation commercial beekeeper from New York state. I do both commercial crop pollination and honey production. Currently, I'm president of the American Beekeeping Federation. I'm also on the New York State Apiary Industry Advisory Committee.