On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 23:28:50 -0400, James Fischer <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

>While Peter offers some fine points, I don't know why the
>beekeeping version of IPM remains so unlike any other
>application of IPM in any other segment of agriculture.

I have been certified to apply pesticides in New York state, so I know a
little bit about this. The state, bless them, includes IPM in the training.
To me, it boils down to one concept: BE open minded and knowledgeable about
the control of pests AND the environment. 

IPM seeks to avoid the extreme close-minded approaches you see at the
opposite ends of this issue. On the one hand, you encounter people who are
afraid of anything that looks like a "chemical". On the other, you have
people that reach for the strongest stuff they can buy at the first sign of
trouble, never mind the consequences.

To me, IPM is (and should be) a tiered approach that deals with ACTUAL
problems and ACTUAL solutions. It minimizes chemical controls to keep our
food supply as pure as possible and to avoid resistant pests. It promotes
mechanical controls, knowing that these may in fact be more expensive and
more labor intensive.

I think it applies very easily to beekeeping. You don't treat if you don't
have a problem. I have seen dozens of hives that are healthy and trouble
free, despite years of being left alone. Conversely, if you have bees in
area where there are a lot of other hives, you are basically part of the
beekeeping community and you pretty much have to do what THEY do. 

No one can accuse me of being pro-chemical, since I have an article in this
month's ABJ about keeping bees without chemicals. No one can accuse me of
being against them either. I love bees and I wouldn't sit back and let them
die off, any more than I would keep my kids from going to see a doctor. 

pb

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