Resolutions presented at the 2021 Annual General Meeting
Resolution 1
Whereas commercial beekeepers in Ontario have been facing incredible losses and do not have a viable source for affordable bees to replenish and replace colonies due to increased winter loss and increasing demand for pollination services.
And whereas the border to the United States was closed for pests and diseases to mitigate the spread of a multitude of issues that or now endemic in Ontario.
Be it resolved that the board of the Ontario Beekeepers Association, on behalf of the Ontario beekeepers, lobby the relevant departments of Provincial and Federal Government to open the Canada/USA border to the importation of packaged honey bees, country wide in whole or in part or regionally specific.
Moved By: Jacob Parker Seconded by: Chris Hamilton
Resolution 2
Whereas the importation of packaged honey bees from the United States continues to pose a significant risk for importing Africanized honey bee genetics, oxytetracycline resistant American Foulbrood, Varroa destructor mites that are resistant to our current registered treatments
And whereas the fact that the most recent risk assessment from CFIA deemed honey bee packages from the USA to be high risk and detrimental to the health of Canadian honey bees
Be it resolved that the Ontario beekeepers reaffirm their position that the border remains closed for the importation of package bees from the United States.
Moved by: Tom Congdon Seconded by: Jim Coneybeare