I think I have to side with Peter on this one.  The burden of proof is 
on the accuser.  There may be intuitive reasons to believe migratory 
beekeeping at least contributes to some of the problems we face today, but 
what I am seeing here is trial by assumptions based on what people think 
MUST be the truth because how could it not be.  I see a lot of statements 
being made as facts with no backup at all.  I see no actual documentary 
evidence being presented for the argument that all we have to do is get rid 
of, or regulate more strictly, migratory beekeeping, and most of our 
problems will go away.  And all this without much consideration for any 
adverse impact.  Randy Oliver raised some good points in his post on this 
subject, but again, not much offered in the way of proof of a connection 
between widespread problems and migratory beekeeping.  We may think 
it "stands to reason", but that in itself is pretty weak, especially when 
it concerns messing with someone’s livelihood.
     Perhaps the proliferation of hobby beekeepers is as much to blame as 
anything.  We hobbyists let our hives swarm, many of us don’t know 
starvation from PMS much less what to do about it, and we are always having 
to buy new packages to keep our fantasies of pastoral living alive.  Not me 
of course, and certainly no one else on this esteemed list :>).  But before 
I go asking for more regulation, I want to KNOW that it will help, not just 
have a feeling that it might help.  That means being shown the smoking gun 
that I didn’t know was in my hand, and that it is, in fact, the very gun 
that shot Liberty Valance.  
   I am not UN-interested in what people’s beliefs are about things like 
migratory beekeeping, but I am more, much more, interested in knowing if 
what someone says has any real backing, especially when they are presenting 
it as fact.  The only way to know if a statement is backed up by evidence 
is if the person making it provides the sources of their information.  Some 
people on this list do a good job of that, and Peter Borst is one of them.  
Others, quite frankly, do not.  It would go a long way toward helping me 
distinguish someone’s knowledge from their intuition if they would.

Steve Noble    

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