James Fischer and Peter Dillon took me to task for criticising Dave
Hackenburg's and Jerry Hayes' comments reported in the St Petersburg Times.
I remain unrepentant! Beekeeping is having a hard enough time at present
and we all need to be careful with our use of words when talking to the
Press. As Peter said 'The manner in which problems pressing upon apiculture
does need sensitive treatment when put into the public domain' - Q.E.D.!
I am not suggesting that we should engage in some sort of cover up as I
would hope that most of us would have nothing to cover up, but we certainly
need to avoid associating our product with things like 'AIDS' in the mind of
the public. Jim agrees that this was 'perhaps a bit over the top, but like
the "ugly stepchild" phrase, it is exactly the sort of short, pithy, punchy
metaphor that is "quotable".' Q.E.D. again! I have no problem with the
"ugly stepchild", although Cinderella might have been better, but I do not
want the comparison with AIDS to be quoted
throughout the Press. Jim also implied that the AIDS quote was perhaps a
good thing as it might divert public attention away from stings etc. I
disagree - I would prefer to have bees associated with stings, rather than a
devastating disease.
Jim makes the point that 'The St. Petersburg Times is not even a "regional"
paper... so I don't think that much damage has been done'. Maybe, maybe
not; I do not know the paper - but I do know that it is on the Internet for
the world to see and I know that reporters from the major national papers
often pick up stories from small local papers. The world is getting
smaller - and quotes travel faster then ever before.
On the 'junk' quote Jim admits:
> OK, not the best PR one might want for honey, but this was Jerry Hayes
> speaking, the State Apiarist for Florida and IF he was accurately quoted
> (a rare thing when one is quoted by the press), I'm sure he does not need
> any of us to remind him of the wider issue of protecting "the image of
> honey".
Well, either he was accurately quoted, in which case he does need someone to
remind him - or he was not accurately quoted, in which case he should have
agreed to give an interview only on the condition that he would be given the
opportunity to approve the article before publication.
> Regardless, don't beat up on Jerry -
From what I read he is working very hard to help establish the truth and I,
for one, will be very interested to see whether this really is a 'disease'
(Jim says it is: 'Dave is simply explaining HOW the disease at hand...'), or
simply a problem with the way the large beekeeping outfits is the US (and
perhaps elsewhere) manage their colonies. Giving a set of symptoms a name
and handy initials does not make them into a disease!
It was interesting to compare these quotes with the language used by our
World Honey Queen, Ceri Collingbourne in a recent clip on the BBC programme
'Broadcasting House' where she acknowledged that there appeared to be a
problem, wisely refrained from speculation about new diseases, and simply
stressed the importance of pollination.
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/bh/?focuswin - click listen and then fast
forward, items starts at about 36':34" into the program).
January's ABJ, which I have just received, had this from Kirk Webster:
'Interest is really building now for a more self-sufficient, healthy and
resilient style of non-migratory beekeeping in the northern states.
Unstable honey prices, mites, Africanised bees, and the misguided efforts to
make beekeeping fit into an industrial and business model have all converged
to leave our community in a kind of smouldering ruin, and the number of
colonies in the U.S. at dangerously low levels.'
But I am sure that you all knew that.
I also had this in an email from a Canadian beekeeper:
'I'm following what's on Bee-L and it seems to be the big guys who seem not
to be able to manage what they have because of their size and they seem to
be the contributing factor in their own demise (as usual).'
I do not know whether that is a fair analysis and, until Jerry B comes up
with an explanation, neither it seems does anyone else. Presumably, if it
is shown that the 'problem' has not affected small beekeepers then we will
have the answer?
Best wishes
Peter Edwards
[log in to unmask]
www.stratford-upon-avon.freeserve.co.uk/
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