Importation of Bees to New Zealand – From the Early Days to the 1970’s

This chronology was used as some of the source for an article that appeared in Surveillance – https://www.sciquest.org.nz/browse/publications/article/175320. My personal research interests relate mostly to the period from 1907 until the 1970’s. Richard Hall and Hayley Pragart did all the fine work of reducing this mass of detail and references into that article.

It all came about several years ago when someone asked me “When was the last time that queens were imported to NZ?” And I didn’t know the answer… But a trip to the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington answered that and many other questions.

There are a number of reports of queen importations in the pre-1920’s, with no regulatory limitations, but only the considerable practical and logistical problems.  Most reports are from contemporary newspaper writings, and are at times misleading and possibly incorrect, but there are no other archives to describe the importations in a more objective manner.

Before 1920

In 1868 the Chamber of Commerce of Christchurch was in the process of importing Ligurian (Italian-type) bees, which were claimed to be larger than the common bee and capable of working all day and into the night (source).

In February 1871 the Canterbury Acclimatisation Society considered that previous imports of “Lygurian or Alpine bees” are now established and do not require any further importations (source).  

Isaac Hopkins, writing in 1926, described early importations, but some of his claims are somewhat self-aggrandising and marginal for accuracy.  Hopkins credits Mary Bumby for bringing in the first honey bees in 1839.  He reported that they were of the black, or German, strain of bees.  Other such black bees were brought from England and New South Wales in 1842.  Hopkins said the first Italian queen bee from California was for J.H. Harrison (Coromandel), but that he (Hopkins), had received Italian queens in 1880 as well.  Hopkins (then in Thames) imported Italians from Italy in 1883, as well as Swiss Alpine, Syrian, Holylanders, Cyprian and Carniolan bees.  He described Cyprian and “Holylanders” as being similar – quite vicious, attacking even the hot tin part of the smoker, though he conceded they “were the best workers I ever had” (source).  Hopkins makes no mention of the Ligurian queen imports by the Canterbury Acclimatisation Society described above.

“Wilf” Lennon, in his beekeeping history, Bees in Their Bonnets, wrote about T.G. Brickell (Otago) importing Italian queens from America in about 1884, having imported Carniolans at some point before then.  Mention was also made of Robert Stewart obtaining queens from Robert Gibb (Menzie’s Ferry), who had imported queens from A.I. Root in Ohio, USA. Robert Stewart also imported direct from A.I. Root, but also some from South Australia that had originated in Italy (source).

Hopkins referred to his third lot of imported Italian bees in January 1888, by which time he was beekeeping near Matamata.  During this period he appeared to be importing 3 shipments of 4 queen bees.  Each queen was in a separate box containing a piece of comb about 8” square, along with about 100 attendants.  That third shipment, Hopkins said, turned out to have only dead bees and the combs riddled with all stages of the large wax moth, which he destroyed (source).

In March 1893 Mr. G.A. Green addressed the Wade Settlers’ Association (Whangaparaoa) saying that after the initial introduction of black/German bees about 1840, similar imports were made by Lady Hobson, Rev. W.C. Cotton, Mrs. Allom and others.  Green said it wasn’t until 1880 until there were three successful introductions of the yellow Italian-type bee.  Green credited the Christchurch Acclimatisation Association, Mr. J.H. Harrison of Coromandel, and Messrs. Hopkins and Clark for importing these first Italian bees (source).

In 1914 J.S. Cottrell (Te Aroha) commented that he had previously had queens from Rarotonga (Cook Islands) at his apiary  (source).  

April 1918 William Charles Brown of Mosgiel described his experiences with Carniolans “more than 20 years ago” (sometime in the late 1890’s).  He had obtained them from “Europe and America through the late Frank Benton and others.”  Brown said he had not seen any trace of them in the years since (source). 

1920’s

The Isle of Wight disease of honey bees that killed many colonies in the United Kingdom in the early 1900’s was responsible for the first limitations on the import of queen bees to New Zealand.  Regulations in 1920 required certificates of disease-freedom from the exporter and an agricultural officer from the exporting country.  Those first regulations limited imports to the US, Australia and Italy, all of which were believed to be free of the acarine mite (Acarapis woodi), the presumed causative agent of the Isle of Wight disease (source, source).

“Presumed” in that there was even then an argument related to the role of nosema (Nosema apis) and the Isle of Wight disease problems in the UK.  Australian authorities, wishing to retain the right to export queens to NZ, seemed to support the idea that nosema and Isle of Wight might be identical, but with better climate and nutrition Australia did not experience the same problems as the UK (source).

In 1924, representatives of the National Beekeepers’ Association (NBA) made a similar argument, saying that since it was clear NZ had nosema already present, there was no need to restrict queens from Australia.  E.A. “Edgar” Earp, the Senior Apiary Instructor, indicated that there were two diseases/pests involved – nosema and the Isle of Wight disease – but that Australian queens should not be forbidden because of the presence of nosema, which had only recently been confirmed in NZ (source).

Regulations in 1924 changed matters to require the prior consent of the NZ Minister of Agriculture.  Another change required the imported queens to be “examined for disease on arrival” by a Department of Agriculture official, generally the local Apiary Instructor (source).  In 1965 Trevor Palmer-Jones wrote that “Very few queens were imported between 1920 and 1948” (source).

An ambitious scheme was outlined in November 1925.  James Ballantyne, a beekeeper from British Columbia, proposed transporting “swarms” of bees (effectively, package bees) with queens from British Columbia to New Zealand.  The initial shipment had the equivalent of ten-3 pound packages, with 10 queens.  The proposal was to take the bees after they had been used to produce a honey crop in Canada, put them in cool storage transport (40 deg F, along with a shipment of apples), and ship them to NZ – a three week journey.  Here they would be expected to produce a second season of surplus honey.  Only one of the packages survived the journey, and it was established somewhere on Belgium Street, Auckland.  Ballantyne still seemed remarkably optimistic, given the results of his “experiment” (source). 

There are few substantiating documents from the Department of Agriculture in the NZ Archives, but there are multiple personal references in the NZ Beekeeper to indicate that there were at least some queen imports allowed through until the late 1930’s.

1930’s

Miss M.A. Shepherd, Rangiora started beekeeping about 1906, and she “imported queens from America” back then.  Though this article from 1960 does not specify, she was a keen proponent of Caucasian bees, especially for that honeydew area (source).  She and partner Clarrie Hill, along with the Woods Brothers (also Rangiora), were associated over a long period of time with championing of Caucasian bees generally, but received little support from the Department of Agriculture after the 1930’s.

There was a permit issued in 1937 for Mrs. S.I. Hopkins, of Rotorua, to import a nucleus colony of cross-bred bees from New Jersey, USA.  The Department of Agriculture called on Customs to ensure that they were examined upon arrival and before delivery to Mrs. Hopkins (source).

B.T. “Bertie” Cloake’s obituary referred to the fact that he had “imported some queens from America to South Canterbury about 1939, but he had not been “enthusiastic” about what he received.  In later years it was his queens that were used in establishing honey bees on the Chatham Islands  (source).

In March 1938 a Canterbury Branch field day described the Caucasian bees being bred for his own out-apiaries by H.R. (Harold) Busch, Cloverfield Apiaries, Hornby (source).  Busch figures prominently in support for further Caucasian imports in later years.

Several months later in May 1938 a shipment of 100 queens from South Australia (Beeline Honey Co., Meningie, S.A.) was approved for W.L. Adams of Tokomaru (just southwest of Palmerston North) (source).  The form providing authority to import the queens did not, at this stage, specify the race/strain of bee, saying only that the variety was “queen bees”.  More file notes below (in April 1940) suggest that some, if not all, of the queens imported were of Carniolan strain.

Though the Department of Agriculture made a point of having the queens available for inspection in Wellington, a note seems to indicate that it was an Orchard Instructor who was charged to look at them, and with the inspection being limited confirming the appropriate paperwork accompanied the queens.

Only a week or so later the Department of Agriculture responded to a request that they look into importing Apis adonsonii bees, the African honey bee that was later released into South America, and moved north, with great impact (source).   George Toogood, Jr. of Gore had asked about the possibility of imports.  The reply from J.A. Campbell, the Director of Horticulture, did not prohibit progressing the import process, and he even provided information on possible sources of supply in South Africa (source).  There is no evidence of a permit ever eventuating.

1940’s

In March 1940, Harold Busch wrote to the Department of Agriculture to again champion Caucasian bees, which he said he had been breeding since 1931 (presumably importing stock then and possibly in later years).  Busch claimed his Caucasian stocks had not experienced the levels of disease as that of his neighbours, naming W.B. “Billy” Bray specifically (source).

In April 1940 the Department of Agriculture sent an Apiary Instructor to inspect six hives of A.B. Muggeridge in Manutahe (south of Hawera), and those of W.L. Adams (Tokomaru).  Both apiaries appear to have received permitted queen imports (possibly from the May 1938 shipment to W.L. Adams), and the Department of Agriculture wanted to do a more thorough inspection.  Adams had some Italian hives, 8 pure-bred Carniolans, and a number of cross-bred (mostly Carniolan/Italian), along with some headed by recently introduced Italian queens.  A brood disease was investigated with some pupae dying shortly before emerging.  It was considered normal, and probably related to poor nutrition or possibly chilling.  Samples were taken to send to Wallaceville (source).

In June 1941 H.R. Busch applied to import six Caucasian queens from Iowa, with local growers writing to support him.  He again referred to the fact that he had imported queens since 1931.  Advice from R.S. “Bob” Walsh, the local Apiary Instructor, was that Italians out-produced Caucasians in that district.  Temperament and excess propolising were also given as reasons for not importing further Caucasian stocks.  The letter to Busch refusing the imports laid it to the Department of Agriculture finding “brood troubles which somewhat resemble European Foul-Brood and which is at present under investigation.”  This “unknown” brood disease had been talked about for several years by this time (source).  A month later, it was confirmed that the unknown disease was not European foulbrood (source).

The “official” position on the future of queen imports was given in July 1941 by W.K. Dallas, the Director of the Horticulture Division, saying that the “general policy of his Department, for the duration of the war, anyhow, was against recommending the granting of permits to import.” (source)

In September 1941 A. Carruthers (Rotorua) was refused a permit to import queens.  It was not stated where he hoped to import them from.  W.K. Dallas, Director of the Horticulture Division, again referred to a brood disease that first appeared in 1939, and was present in a milder form in the 1940/41 season.  He provided a list of possible sources of NZ queens (source).

In spring 1945 the Apiary Instructors were asked their opinion on future imports of queens from overseas (source).  Most discussion centred around the issues of strain/race of honey bee.  R.S. Walsh referred to “Two queens imported by Mr. W. Jennings of Canterbury from Jay Smith of Florida, U.S.A.” at some point in the past.  He also described “…a Jay Smith queen imported in 1939” and some Australian queens that were worthless.  These are examples of queen imports that almost certainly happened, but lack documentation of the events.

L.H. Johnson said that in Taranaki there were some beekeepers who wanted to try out “some of the Caucasians for inland high country.”  Eric Smaellie, Apiary Instructor in Christchurch, referred to previous imports of “Cyprian and Carniolan etc” that had either been destroyed or assimilated in the past.  He noted that some Caucasian imports have been maintained by the two commercial producers in the Christchurch areas.

Smaellie also referred to the “last few years while the embargo has been in operation”.  This would refer to the reluctance to allow permits for any imported queens following the unconfirmed brood disease of the late 1930’s/early 1940’s.

In November 1946 J.H. “Howard” Lowe of Tauranga wrote to Customs regarding possible queen importations, but was told to apply to the Director-General of Agriculture.  The regulations were in the process of being amended, and there is no evidence that Lowe did apply at that time.

In 1946 the Bees and Appliances (Introduction) Regulations (source) would result in modifications to the process to apply for queen importations.  Its provisions resulted in a prescribed form and its wording.  The strain/race of a proposed importation was to be supplied, with there being some concept of “approved strains”, though not specified, necessarily.  There were still multiple conditions relating to certification for disease and pest freedom, and a new provision was that any queen imports had to arrive direct to the Wallaceville lab where they could be inspected properly for such as acarine mites.  It described how that lab would replace the accompanying worker bees and the travel cages.  By early 1947 the revised conditions for imports were developed and implemented (source).  The Apiaries Regulations 1948 described the requirements for a permit to import bees (source).

It was nearly two years, October 1948, before J.H. Lowe applied for and was approved to import four Italian queens from Jay Smith and Son of Ft. Myers, Florida, USA.  The permit issued was  the first using the updated conditions. (source).  It would not be Lowe’s last experience of importing queens.

In February 1949 M.G. Schaw, Hobin Road, Waipawa, wrote to his Apiary Instructor, D.S. Robinson, saying that the queen bee he had received from (New York) American was laying well.  As Robinson had not received any notice of inspection from the Quarantine Station, Wallaceville, for the importation, he reported the import.  It was noted that Mr. Schaw is “a lad of about 19 years of age and has an apiary of 10 hives” and that “he is being quite frank with his statements, and is not trying to hide anything” (source).  He appears to have properly applied for a permit during the next season in January 1950, as below.

F.D. Keoghan of Wellington wrote in June 1949 asking for permission to import queens from Kangaroo Island, though the details were somewhat confused.  There is no evidence that it was permitted, but the reasons for refusal are not available (source).

In July 1949 the Customs Department acknowledged the recent changes relating to bee and appliance importations.  Shipments by parcel or packet post could be dealt with by the Post and Telegraph Department, but Customs was concerned with emerging opportunities for illegal imports by passengers or crew of incoming vessels and aircraft.  The Customs memo included  a standard form for the Authority to Import Bees into New Zealand.  That form would remain consistent for the future queen imports (source).

In October 1949 L.A. “Les” Furness, Managing Director of Walworth Industries (source) began a prolonged correspondence relating to queen imports (source).  It started when ten queens had died in transit from “the Professor of Apiculture, Ontario University” (in fact, Ontario Agricultural College, Ontario, Canada) to Palmerston North.  Trevor Palmer-Jones reported to him that the escorts and queens had all died from starvation or possibly exposure.  But he also pointed out to Furness that an authority was required to import queens…

A well-worded request by Furness, asking to allow a subsequent “replacement” shipment of ten queens, resulted in a successful application to import the Italian bees that were bred on Pelee Island (an isolated station on the island in Lake Eire) by the Ontario Agricultural College.  The OAC later became a part of Guelph University.

The shipment faced difficulties with Customs in spite of the permit having been issued.  T.S. “Tom” Winter had been firm in his approach to Furness as to what was a “gift” (as it might relate to a Custom’s exemption?) but had ultimately issued the permit.  Winter seems to have been (intentionally?) obtuse in saying he could not issue the permit retrospectively.  He did not need to issue another permit, but simply refer to the one he provided to Furness three weeks earlier.

In late 1948 H.L.M. Buisson, Manager of Homestead Apiaries (Drury?) first indicated an interest in importing queens from South Australia, to be sent by his mother as a birthday gift.  The next season (November 1949) Buisson made the formal letter of application for 5 Ligurian queens from Kangaroo Island, South Australia.  He wanted the queens for “experimental purposes”.  The permit was issued promptly one week later (source).  Homestead Apiaries sold queens and nucs, and acted as an agent for Frank White (Whangarei) queens, advertising in the NZ Beekeeper magazine (source).

1950’s

In January 1950 M. Schaw, The Willow’s Apiaries, Waipawa applied for a permit for three Italian (Ligurian) queen bees from Kangaroo Island, South Australia.  He was promptly issued a permit to import them.  When they were received in NZ, Trevor Palmer-Jones wrote to say they had arrived in good condition at Wallaceville.  Palmer-Jones expressed interest in how the Ligurian queens would perform under NZ conditions.  Schaw appears to have confirmed to Palmer-Jones that the queens had arrived safely; Palmer-Jones referred to the Ligurian queens from Kangaroo Island as having a “reputation for tractability” and a lack of other virtues – but hoped that these three “belie” this reputation! (source)    [Schaw’s name is variously spelled in some of the documents, but this seems most likely to be the same person from the unpermitted import of a queen in February 1949, a year earlier.]

Though he had earlier been permitted, and imported queens, J.H. Lowe came to the Dept of Agric attention again in April 1950.  Four queens from Spears Apiaries, Hamburg, Laramie, USA, were received at Wallaceville.  Trevor Palmer-Jones destroyed them, as they did not have the permit for their import, nor the required license from Customs.  (Palmer-Jones found nosema in one attendant bee from each of two cages, but said it was “inadvisable to mention the presence of nosema as this is not a declared disease of bees under the Apiaries Act 1927.”)

Lowe was not at all happy.  Though it was Palmer-Jones who destroyed the queens, it was left to Tom Winter to report that to Lowe.  Winter tried his best, choosing to not refer to the fact that several of the attendants had nosema, but no acarine mites).  But Lowe was not happy.

Lowe contended that the queens (“which you so kindly destroyed”) were “a gift to me, and were not imported.”  He claimed that as soon as he knew the queens were on their way, he had written to Wallaceville, but had not received a reply.  (The fact that the package was addressed to Wallaceville seems to indicate that Lowe was at least partly cognizant of the need for a permit.)  

Lowe was “not prepared to let the matter end here”; he demanded “satisfaction” relating to Winter’s actions in destroying the queens.  He said he would “take this up with Govt”.  In the following page Lowe lambasted Winter for his response to the German wasp introduction and spread.  Tom Winter ensured the letters would remain on file for the future (source)…

H.R. Busch, Hornby, continued in his efforts to promote Caucasian queen imports in October 1950.  Busch referred to him and his father importing Caucasian queens from the USA “about 17 years ago” – 1933.  Busch claimed that in his attempts to breed the Caucasian bees he was thwarted by the local beekeepers who he claimed moved an Italian bee apiary close to disrupt the pure Caucasian matings.  He moved the mating yard to Oxford – but says his opponents were quick to be “wise to my move”.  His letter was not written to the Department of Agriculture, but rather to a National Party politician (source).

The next month – November 1950 – Apiary Instructor Ivor Forster, along with Tom Winter, the Senior Apiary Instructor, interviewed Tom Pearson of Darfield.  Pearson told them of the cross-matings of his Italians with the Caucasian bees from the honeydew areas, with his hopes to incorporate some resistance to nosema (it didn’t happen).  Pearson referred to the fact that the cross-bred bees were “savage stingers”.  Forster quoted another beekeeper who said they “would chew your boots off”.  While there is no letter of reply to Busch, Winter’s lack of support for any Caucasian queen imports was clear (source).

A.J. Peterson from Hastings wrote to the Department of Agriculture in May 1951.  He proposed to import 20 Caucasian queens from Queensland, Australia for R.W. Biggs, who appears to have been a neighbouring beekeeper of Peterson in the Hastings area.  He also proposed to bring in 14 Italian queens from Queensland for his (Peterson’s) own apiaries.  Peterson’s letter had all of the information that might have seen Tom Winter issuing a permit, but Winter’s response was to provide him with a set of the conditions, and warn him off that it was unlikely a permit for Caucasian bees would be issued (source).

J.H. Addison, Upper Moutere, wrote in July 1951, wanting to import six tested Caucasian queens – Mountain Grey strain (?) from Three Rivers, Texas, USA.  Tom Winter refused the permit that same month, expressing concern especially relating to hybrids of mixed Caucasian and Italian bees.  Winter asserted that “Successful development and maintenance of good strains of Italian bees which are considered best for New Zealand conditions generally … would be impossible if dark coloured strains of bees are allowed to be imported” (source).

In August 1951 Tom Winter wrote to refuse the importation of Italian queens from Kangaroo Island, South Australia, for Arthur J. Shaw, Dunedin.  Winter provided Shaw with the necessary conditions for importing queens, but suggested that NZ Italians are better, and suggested he procure a queen from any reliable queenbreeder in NZ (source).

Philip Goldsmith made an application in August 1951 to import four Italian queens from The Stover Apiaries, Mayhew, Mississippi, USA, hoping to improve his own strain of Italian bees.  Tom Winter, in a file note, said that some previous correspondence should be considered, but there is no indication of what that was.  Winter issued the permit almost immediately, though it appears the queens did not arrive until October.  Winter wrote to Goldsmith, asking him how he had found the queens in the past season.  Goldsmith replied that the queens and workers from them were all quite small and inclined to run on the combs; they were gentle but quite useless as gatherers.  He added “The swarming instinct was highly developed.”  He concluded that he had destroyed the hives as “such a strain of Italian bees would be a menace to beekeepers in New Zealand” (source).

At the beginning of the next season, September 1952, P.A. “Percy” Hillary sought to import a queen from Jay Smith.  He wrote to Tom Winter on a first name basis, saying he had first started to raise queens by the Jay Smith method after Winter had sent him a typed copy of the procedure.  Hillary refer to “My own bees have deteriorated during my absence from my business of three years.”  It is not clear when that refers to.  His service in WWI was for less than two years – he was one of the more successful of the returned servicemen from WWI.  

Some commentary has it that Percy’s wife, Gertrude, was a better queen breeder than Percy (source).  She was reported to be the first person to send queens to Australia by air transport (source).

[Another date to consider is that son Ed Hillary would be the first to climb Mt. Everest in another 8 months or so in May 1953.]

Winter sent Hillary the conditions for import of queens, and Hillary wrote back, saying he was “Trusting to be permitted to import the breeder-queen & to thus reduce the present big crop of stings and to increase present small crops of honey.”  Winter provided the permit a few days later, for one Italian queen from Jay Smith & Son, Port Myers, Florida, USA.

There appear to have been no requests to import queens through the 1953/54 season.  In August 1954 I.H. (“Ivan”) Pullin, Mt. Roskill, Auckland, started the back-and-forth letters with the Department of Agriculture that resulted in a successful permit to import three tested Italian queens from the Walter T. Kelley Co, Clarkson, Kentucky, USA.  Pullin stated that their “breeding stock comes direct from the Kelley Island, a Government sponsored station on Lake Michigan.”  Tom Winter responded, indicating that the permit was approved, but the permit itself is not in the files examined (source).  Pullin was probably better known for his production of foundation wax than his queen rearing (source).  He was also one of the few beekeepers convicted of not paying the required Seals Levy on his honey sales. (source)

The only application to import queens in the next season, 1955/56, was from Ken Everett, Hedgehope, Invercargill, hoping to import Italian queens from Australia.  His interests were in getting enough early spring queens to two-queen hives in the far south.  Tom Winter declined the application, saying that there was no evidence that the Kangaroo Island Italian bees were as good as the best strains of bees raised in New Zealand.  He suggested a “group action” of South Island producers, joining together in a regular bulk purchase.  He thought it might be worthwhile for “any strong group of South Island producers to set up some competent beekeeper for this purpose.”  He concluded that he “would not recommend the importation of queen bees for introduction to honey producing hives in New Zealand” (source).

December 1956 would be the last permit to import queen bees that was issued.  The correspondence was not as extensive as for some other imports.  After D.A. “Don” Barrow’s initial letter, things happened pretty quickly.  It should be remembered that Barrow would have been closely involved with both Tom Winter and Trevor Palmer-Jones through the times of tutu honey poisonings in the Bay of Plenty.  Barrow imported only a single Italian queen from Walter Wallace, Minildra, New South Wales.  Palmer-Jones confirmed to Barrow that the attendant bees were examined and replaced with fresh attendants before being sent on to Tauranga.  Palmer-Jones said “Release of the queen to you means that our examination showed the attendant bees free from acarine disease”.  That final “legal” queen came into NZ on 13 December 1956 (source)…

And given that Don Barrow’s was the last legal import means the rest of this chronology has some added interest.

Apiary Instructors, and Trevor Palmer-Jones in particular, were keen to ensure that the risks relating to the introduction of acarine mites were well-appreciated by the beekeeping industry.  Various magazine articles described symptoms, and warned beekeepers against illegal imports of bees.

Prof. J.E. Eckert from the US referred to the breeding programme for Ligurian bees that was based on Kangaroo Island (source).

1960’s

It was early 1960 before the next formal application to import queen bees was received.  It was from A.K. “Arthur” Ecroyd, Managing Director of Alliance Bee Supplies.  By that time, Tom  Winter had been replaced by Eric  Smaellie.  Smaellie responded that as the request was related to what would appear to be an intention to import and on-sell the queens, it was unlikely to be recommended to the Director for a permit.  “In any event permits would not be granted to persons other than registered bee keepers”, as Ecroyd’s proposal may have been a more commercial project than the import process ever dealt with (source).

Several months later in May 1960 F.W. “Fred” Bartrum, Pleasant Point, enquired about importing 50 queens from Australia.  Bartrum referred to a report from A.L. “Alf” Eastley, a visiting Australian beekeeper (source), that indicated a 30% production increase with “Dadan(t) Starline Hybrids”.  

Both Eric Smaellie and Trevor Palmer-Jones wrote to Bartrum, both making unequivocal statements that the threat of the introduction of acarine mites means that no bee imports would be permitted.  Palmer-Jones said that was “official policy of the Department of Agriculture.”  Smaellie (Superintendent of the Beekeeping Industry) said “the Department of Agriculture is not prepared to accept any risk whatever where this disease [acarine] is concerned” (source).

A.M.W. “Arthur” Greig, the Director of the Horticulture Division, made several significant announcements in his address to the National Beekeepers’ Assn Annual Conference in July 1960.  He indicated that an external acarine mite, Acarapus externus, had been confirmed in NZ, but said it had in fact been found on escort bees sent with queens from NZ to Australia.

Greig went on to speculate why there is any call at all to import queens to NZ.  He worried that introduced bees could work against the breeding work of NZ queen breeders, should the introduced bees turn out to have undesirable traits.  In saying “during the past five years there have been no authorised importations of bees” he was rounding off to some extent – it had been a bit over 3½ years (source).

At that same 1960 NBA Conference, Eric Smaellie, Superintendent Beekeeping Industry, described progress toward a scheme to properly test and evaluate NZ breeding stock (source).

In March 1964, the Director of Wallaceville Animal Research Centre (recently renamed from “Station”), M.B. Buddle described the potential effort and expense involved in importing various stages of immature bees and drone semen to “safely” import them for a side-by-side test with NZ stocks.  It would appear that there had been some industry desire for such a scheme, but it was considered well out of “sizing” for NZ to take on.  Trevor Palmer-Jones almost certainly wrote the majority of the letter that Buddle signed (source).

Early in the next production season, August 1964, W.E. Jones, Browns Bay, Auckland, asked to import six Italian queens for his own use.  He asked for contacts in Italy and to know the process for imports (source).  He was, presumably, directed to local suppliers quality queen bees.

Through 1965 there was a strong call from the NBA for the importation of new breeding stock, and particularly in light of the potential for using immature stages or semen to reduce the risk of disease importation (source).  

At the same time, there were rumours of illegal importations of Caucasian bees.  In an internal Apiary Instructors telegram, a number of names were used quite loosely (source).  It all related to a colony that a Mr. McLeod had brought from Canterbury to near Te Anau. The Herron brothers, of Balfour (near Gore) told their Apiary Instructor Dick Hobbs, who asked L.A.M. “Laurie” Griffin, but no one knew anything about it!  The Herron brothers were worried about a potential acarine introduction to the area. Hobbs was going to have a look at the hive in the weeks before the NBA Conference, but Hobbs said that the Caucasian-like bees may well have come from the Woods Brothers, Rangiora, in the first place.  (Woods Brothers and Miss M.A. Shepherd had Caucasian bees in the honeydew areas in previous years.  Miss Shepherd was particularly supportive of the Caucasian bee for those conditions. 

In his President’s report to the 1965 NBA Conference, Harry Cloake said that a queen bee had been brought into NZ without authority (quite likely, reference above).  There were rumours of other such imports.  Cloake suggested it was time to look at a system to allow imports with more supervision and quarantine, as a way to avoid the illegal imports (source).

In that same August 1965 issue of the NZ Beekeeper, Trevor Palmer-Jones provided a review of the importations of queens and described the potential use of immature stages and drone semen.  He was specific in the nature of the eight permits that had been issued between 1948 and 1956 – 31 queens in total, from 3 countries.  As well as the fears of acarine, Palmer-Jones felt that the locally bred strains may well be superior to any that might be imported. 

Table 1. Summary of the 8 Queen Importations Referred to by Palmer-Jones in 1965

Notes:
31 queens in 8 shipments from 3 countries.
Permits were for only Italian/Ligurian strains of bee.
All importations were to North Island beekeepers.

Palmer-Jones told of four NZ queens from a strain that was well-suited to the South Island conditions but failed to perform at all well in the UK conditions when exported to Rothamstead Research Station.  He considered the considerable expense of maintaining a pure line of an imported strain would be too much for most NZ queen breeders. 

Palmer-Jones considered the establishment of a Government-funded bee improvement programme, using immature stages and semen, would involve “two men highly trained in apiary management plus a scientific officer.”  It would need a small branch laboratory and experimental apiary in the Auckland area.  Comparing NZ strains to those imported from overseas would involve yet more staffing (source).

About that same time in August 1965, A.W. Morrison of Morrison’s Apiaries, Balclutha, wrote an impassioned plea to B.E. “Brian” Talboys, the Minister of Agriculture.  He claimed (with some vigour) that a “better strain of Honey Bee could be imported to suit our erratic climatic conditions.”  Caucasian bees were, from his investigations, the strain that should be brought to NZ, and  be able to respond to the range of conditions here.  He said “We need a Honey Bee that can swim at one end of the country and go without water at the other.”  Arthur Greig drafted a reply for Talboys, declining to proceed with genetic importations, both on the grounds of disease risk and resourcing required (source).

Following the NBA Conference the next year, in November 1966, there was a call for support to develop a controlled queen breeding programme.  George Winslade, the NBA Vice President, designed a breeding programme that involved setting up a full-time queen rearer in Canterbury or North Otago, providing the economic rationale that included asking beekeepers to invest for up to 10 years of financial support.  It was an ambitious call for support for a seemingly feasible undertaking (source).  In the 1970’s, Roger Bray and Gavin White were established on just such a basis by a grouping of South Island beekeepers.

Ivor Forster wrote an article for the February 1967 NZ Beekeeper magazine titled “Bee Breeding”.  He said that “Caucasian bees had been bred quite extensively in New Zealand until recently, and Carniolans were kept in several districts” (source).  

In September 1967, Arthur Greig, Director of the Horticulture Division, reported to the Director-General of Agriculture about an illegal import.  The Waikato NBA branch officers, President Norm Tuck (Te Awamutu) and Secretary Bruce Forsyth (Ohaupo) had approached Eric Smaellie, Superintendent of Beekeeping, about a possible illegal importation.  Smaellie made the call to not reply to the letter, as he expected to speak with them in Hamilton soon.  He did so, and they withdrew their letter.  The rationale was that the offending importer would hear of it through the branch meeting correspondence, and it might jeopardise a successful prosecution.  The offender was a member of the Waikato Branch of the NBA, but no prosecution resulted.  Smaellie had assured the NBA Executive that the Department of Agriculture was fully prepared to prosecute if there was adequate evidence (source).  Ironically, both Norman Tuck and Bruce Forsyth share the same page with obituaries about 10 years later (source).

In July 1968 Trevor Palmer-Jones made a clear statement of his objection to importing queen bees.  He led with concerns about acarine, but followed with European foulbrood, and noted that even though NZ has found nosema and Malpighamoeba mellifica, imported queens might bring in more virulent strains (source). 

During the next season, in March 1969, Mr. A. Graham, of Graham’s Honey Farm in Alberrta, Canada, telephoned Apiary Instructor John Smith, wanting information on exporting queens into New Zealand.  Before responding, Smith – or it may have been Eric Smaellie – confirmed the specifics of the most recent introductions.  Palmer-Jones reported that the last three shipments were from the USA and Australia, in 1952, 1954 and 1956.  The last of these, Palmer-Jones said, was from Australia.  That is all consistent with the documentation of those times.  Smith conveyed to Graham that “in practice it has been the policy … to refuse nearly all applications” to import queens (source). 

In August 1969 Trevor Palmer-Jones examined two cages with queens and escorts that had been concealed by being wrapped in a magazine.  He said that both queens and all the attendants were alive when they arrived, and he placed them in an incubator.  In November, Palmer-Jones referred to a subsequent (October 1969) investigation of two more cages with queens that had been caught.  The cages were labelled CARNICA and TROISEK, both being types of Carniolan bees.  P.G. “Pat” Clinch provided a report of the examination.  The wrapping had the words “The Stratfords, Kaitaia, N.Z.”  Dissection of the escort bees found one with a single external acarine mite.

In the following January, Arthur Grieg, Director of the Horticulture Division, wrote a strong letter to the Deputy Director-General of Agriculture, strongly recommending he change his decision to not prosecute Stratford.  Greig referred to “four fortuitous interceptions of attempts to import bees illegally”, with an unknown number of attempts before that first was detected.  “Even if the department loses the case it should surely discourage Stratford from further attempts.”

Greig raised the importance of the increasing trade in export of queens from NZ to Canada, and how this was all an embarrassment to the department.  Greig felt that unless the department was seen to be acting positively it would face adverse criticism from the NBA (source).

1970’s

In late 1971 Trevor Palmer-Jones wrote in the NZ Beekeeper magazine putting, as he saw (and titled) it “The Case Against Importing Honey Bees to New Zealand”.  He summarised all the arguments to oppose imports (source).

In 1972 the NBA Executive was again concerned at the possibilities of illegal imports, though this may still have been related to the above illegal importations. (source, source)

In April 1979 the NBA Executive agreed to refuse advertising for “Disease resistant queen bees” from “the Stratford Comvita Laboratories” (source).  There were several letters to the editor referring to the excessive claims of disease resistance, with Graeme Walton weighing in for the Advisory Services Division. (source, source, source, source, source)

In March 1972 an approach to an Apiary Instructor (possibly in Hamilton? Alf Bennett?) was made by George Nichols (Northland) regarding the importation of drone semen.  The internal Department of Agriculture communication asked various background questions, such as who would be responsible for the artificial insemination involved, how long would any advantage last, and whether there would be a restriction on other than Italian-type semen imports (source).