Hello Brian & All,
Sorry if I touched a nerve! I hope we can agree to disagree.

I do believe you are missing the big picture with this statement:

" Its a shame that beekeeping has come to this sort of nonsense just so a 
minority of beekeepers can make some sort of a living from it"

 Maybe the Chinese or Argentines which send honey into the U.S. (which the 
public grabs up despite the banned in U.S. antibiotics)will pollinate the 
crops when we are all gone.

Pollination is the big issue here! If U.S. beekeepers can not do the job in 
California then the Mexicans from south of the border will. I am as serious 
as a heart attack. 

Almond growers are going to get bees. Supply and demand. One grower 
privately told me they could pay up to $500 a hive and still make money 
when almond prices are up. They are spoiled because of years of low almond 
pollination fees.

Migratory beekeepers will play by the rules until its time not to play by 
the rules then they will drive around those checkpoints and move bees in 
refrigerated trailers. Exactly like when borders were closed for tracheal 
mites and when varroa first arrived.

They will look through their rolladex for the driver they used in the past 
which drove around the checkpoints. If you think migratory beekeepers are 
outlaws then you should see some of these independent drivers with their 
own riggs. Moving bees around checkpoints for a higher fee gets their 
attention.

Every truckstop sells an atlas for around $25 which shows the route to 
drive around every scale and inspection point in the U.S.. I get calls all 
the time from migratory beekeepers wanting me to plot a route for them from 
my copy. Kind of like beekeeper mapquest. He He.

Bob

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