Lets see, in beekeeping you have; the flowers, the bees and the beekeepers. So if there is a problem in beekeeping then it would seem to follow that beekeepers are part of the problem. I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong on that. It seems ridiculous to consider proponents of an environment that is healthy for native pollinators to be the enemies of beekeepers. While we are asking ourselves what is good for beekeepers, of course others will be asking what is good for the system as a whole; you know the big system of beekeeping, agriculture, nature and society. Some of those who ask this question may reasonably conclude that what is good for the system as a whole is not bad for beekeeping, and maybe it is even good for it in the long run. It is not wise to narrow your focus of concern to the point where you loose sight of what is good for the larger system of which you are a part. In other words whatever you do to improve the situation for beekeeping had better be good for the whole system, the environmental system the agricultural system, etc, or you are just creating more problems for yourself down the road. Perhaps that has already happened to a significant degree in beekeeping. It’s foolish to think that migratory beekeeping is and can be the only answer to the needs of those who have no particular attachment to having their crops pollinated by honeybees. If the crops that need pollinating are as economically significant as everyone says they are then if there is better way than trucking honeybees across the country to get those crops pollinated someone will find it. The advocates of native pollinators certainly have not created the pollination void left by the unsuccessful struggle to keep honeybees healthy, but they have every right to try and find a good long term solution to it. I just don’t see how that makes them an adversary of the long term viability of beekeeping. It might make beekeepers the enemy of what works, which is not a good position to be in. The smart way to approach a system that is big enough to be pretty much out of your control is to search for a way that you can fit into it seamlessly in order to fill a need without creating an imbalance within the system. You know you’ve done it right when your interests and the vitality of the system you are a part of are enhanced and little or no integral part of that system is damaged or lessened. As beekeepers if our interests find us in conflict with those who are concerned about the health of something as close to us as native pollinators, then we need to take another look, expand our vision and see how both those interests can be served. It might require some adjustment in the way we do things. Steve Noble ****************************************************** * Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at: * * http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm * ******************************************************