Hi Roy and all..
      I am 69 years old and a 4th generation beekeeper.  By age ten, I owned and
worked  30 multiple chambered hives.  Every summer, I paid my college tuition selling
honey.  I have kept bees all my life any place I went.  Honey bees are is the number
two love of my life, my number one is my wife!
      Needless to say, I rank honey bees pretty high in my scale of values.  Modesty
aside, I can claim that I know honey bees well, not just because I kept bees as long
as I have but because I have dedicated a good portion of my life to their study.  My
studies have given me the ability to differentiate the normal from the abnormal,
which as I remember from my first readings in pathology,  is the basic ingredient for
identifying pathology, or deviations from the normal.
        One of the parameters of my testing has been to observe, identify and  record
harmful effects of FGMO, should there be any.  I have not observed harmful effects of
FGMO on larval stages in the colonies that I have tested with FGMO. This statistic is
as valid as that when I have reported that excessive amounts of FGMO will kill adult
bees.  Unfortunately, it does and I have taken explicit care to indicate that it does
and to explain the mechanism why it happens.
     I do not blame beekeepers and other people in the business to doubt the claims
of a
stranger when so much is at stake.  I understand the reasons for skepticism.  I
understand that producers have to prove their wares before they are accepted.  How
are discoveries, inventions, modifications to existing technology proven?  My answer
is that responsible producers and promoters of innovations will stand the tests to
which these are submitted by independent "testers."
     As I understand there are several independent individuals (I am not one of
those) who have been granted financial support by institutions to test the effects of
FGMO on honey bees.  I continue my testing program with the guarantee that it is open
to scrutiny by any individual interested in knowing about it and that I shall
continue to announce my findings promptly to the international community for the
benefit of all.
        This year's phase of study involves "fine tuning" application of FGMO in a
cost effective mode for commercial beekeepers.  Of course, this application will be
useful to each and every beekeeper (large or small) who may wish to apply it.  In
addition, I will be working with as many individuals who may wish to participate in
an attempt to utilize standard techniques.  More to come on this phase as events
unfold.
     I am very much aware that it is natural and normal to fear the unknown, and
especially so when there are financial values involved and much more if  sentimental
and moral values are added to this collective scenario.  Hence, I do not blame any
person who is not willing to risk his business trying unsubstantiated claims,
especially coming from an unknown individual as is my case and FGMO.  But facts do
not lie.  Facts are palpable and must stand the test of public scrutiny.  That is the
reason why I continue to reveal my work and the results of my tests.  I am fully
confident that other investigators will be able to duplicate my tests and make known
their findings in a near future.  When that happens
beekeeping and humanity will have the opportunity to defeat the terrible plague that
bee mites constitute.  In the meantime I would like to paraphrase what someone else
wrote regarding this very same subject:  "don't kill the messenger."
Best regards.
Dr. Rodriguez
Virginia Beach, VA