?>> I would be interested in why exactly you feel there is no possibility of the Mexico border opening other than simply a gut feeling >But beyond that, the importation of cheap bees from Mexico would destroy >the beekeeping industry in this country. Under WAS rules, who wins and who loses cannot be a consideration. Phtytosanitary determinations and international rules should decide the outcome. All that withstanding, the US plays by the rules when it works in the favour of powerful US lobbies and ignores them when they don't. So you are both right. Bob by the rules, Pete by the way things usually shake out. Nonetheless, money talks and we are in the early innings. Which lobby is stronger -- almonds or beekeepers? We have seen what the almond people can do -- instantly and effortlessly bringing millions and millions to bee research which was on life support and gasping its last breath. Beekeeper groups have been wasting their ammo on one another and in-fighting for decades. Every time the industry pulls together -- even a little -- both factions are astounded. Normally National meetings draw numbers in the hundreds, but I hear that Galveston has over 1600 pre-registrations, even though nobody is expecting great weather. There is a message here somewhere. *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm