Martin,
Your comments about Randys remarks were I felt really off the mark, and
contained an implied fatalism.
You quoted Randy: :

                             How dare you blame legal trade for spreading
bee diseases?

First , please reread his post..Unless I have missed something , I didnt see
that he was laying all the blame at the feet of "free trade".

Now, you went on to cite instances of well meaning people actually importing
organisms that actually caused harm.
Really , this reasoning  could be applied to "well meaning" people
importing organisms based on profit rather than research motivations.

Of all the authors I have read on Bee-L, Randy is certainly very competent,
and rates right at the top-in my mind- in evaluating beekeeping practices in
an objective light. He seems to try to let the facts speak for themselves
without putting his own spin on things. I dont know him personally, but most
of his comments I would categorize as being from the point of view of one
who doesnt "have a dog in the fight".

One thing I have read that let me know that he saw things in a different and
I believe sobering light,were his comments on the tremendous number of
species that (the fossil record shows) are no longer with us, as well as the
extinctions documented over the last two hundred years or so-I think the
numbers are in the 100's of thousands of species........ many extinctions
have resulted  from mankinds refusal to take "the long view".
Mankind certainly has a powerful role to play in preventing the spread of
disease, and  "free trade" needs to be a tool in this role. One cannot
simply say because men have broken import/export laws or misapplied research
via importation of pests-and this is where your response to Randy is off the
mark-that free trade is automatically exonerated from all contributions to
spreading diseases. This also doesn't mean we should blame "free trade", or
stop all importations..
Being a queen breeder,it is "human" to have sensitivity to anything that
smacks of "anti- free trade".


Sincerely,
John Horton

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