Peter L. Borst wrote:
>A short excerpt from the writings of Andy Nachbaur
>Stress Accelerated Decline [SAD] and Bee Immune Deficiency [BAD]

I had meant to include a few comments this AM but had to go to work! I
thought the post was instructive in several ways. First, it reminds one that
beekeepers and pesticide users have been at odds for many decades. You would
think they would know each other a little better by now. Or perhaps, they
know us, but we don't really know what they are up to. 

Secondly, Andy suggests that the beekeepers must take responsibility and get
the hell away from the dangerous agricultural areas. I would add: if you are
going to risk getting sprayed -- say, to do pollination -- you should build
that into your fee. Make the growers pay for the bees they kill, instead of
dreaming about government pay-offs or suing the chem companies. 

Third, as Malcolm Sanford points out, even bees in areas where there are NO
pesticides have been suffering for many years. Before you go accusing
someone else of killing your bees, you better be sure you had healthy bees
in the first place. I know at least one beekeeper who got govt. payments in
the 70s for dead-outs that would have died anyway, spray or no-spray. 

Which brings me to the final point: I think that the real problem is that we
have not got healthy bees. Due to long term infestation by varroa, probably
tracheal mites and/or nosema, the general bee population of US and Europe is
 sickly. Whether this is because of viruses, or just general parasitization,
doesn't much matter.

For the bee industry to be sustainable (and I mean the whole industry, not
just particular individuals) there has to be an emphasis on raising healthy
bees, either to sell or to use to replace one's own dead-outs. I think we
have to start thinking about nursery yards whose sole purpose is to raise
new healthy colonies. No doubt, isolation would be helpful: to avoid
pesticides, new pests, and general reinfestation -- not to mention stock
improvement.

pb

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