Certainly, as one of our Canadian colleagues has stated, CCD has in  many 
cases become Cash Cow Disease from the research perspective.
 
However, CCD has also stimulated nation wide interest in  beekeeping.  This 
is far more significant than one might expect since the  media has more or 
less ignored this.
 
We're seeing a grass roots renewal of interest in, and the practice  of 
beekeeping.
 
I don't have stats for the greater US, but I can reasonably address  this 
issue in my own state - Montana.  Over the ~ 40 years that I've been  working 
with bees and beekeepers, the beekeepers of the state have mainly   been 
large-scale, commercial.  These operations tend to be  multi-generational (3-4 
at least) families, with established, successful  businesses.  About 60-70 
people manage approximately 175-200,000 colonies,  and about 3/4 of these 
migrate to the west coast to pollinate almonds, fruit,  and nuts.
 
Small scale (hobby) beekeepers have been few and far between and  generally 
have not organized into clubs and have not joined the MT Beekeepers  
Association, which has always been made up of large scale beekeepers (1,000 -  
15,000 colonies).
 
The few hobby beekeepers were scattered about the state.   They almost 
universally lost their bees one winter, a few years after  tracheal and then 
varroa mite appeared on the scene.  Given a lack of any  clubs, and I suspect, 
subscription to bee magazines, these folks were wiped out,  had no idea what 
had happened, and most gave up.
 
Due to the encouragement of Lance and Patty Sundberg, the one  exception 
was a beekeeping club in Billings.  However, since CCD we've seen  a 
remarkable increase in interest in beekeeping, and in the past year, we've  seen bee 
clubs popping up all over.  In Western MT there is a  Bitterroot club, a 
Missoula club, and clubs in the Flathead Lake, Columbia  Falls, Great Falls, 
and Helena.  I'm still trying to run all of them to  ground.
 
We've been asked to provide more frequent and a more diverse array  of 
beekeeping courses.  This spring we launched a fee-based Master  Beekeeping 
series and we will add short courses through our University's  College of 
Extended and Life-Long Learning.  
 
Participants are expected to attend all classes, take tests, show  hands on 
proficiency.  They can elect to pay a basic fee and get a  Certificate upon 
passing/completing the course or workshop, or they can pay  processing fees 
and get academic credit from the University.  Response to  these courses 
has been very good, with requests to extend them to the eastern  and northern 
parts of the state via some form of distance learning and local  hands on 
opportunities.  We're still sorting all of this out.
 
In addition, there is one other major indicator of change in our  state and 
the greater US.  
 
Western Bee is located in Polson, Montana.  The firm produces  all of the 
woodenware distributed by Dadant.  The firm was established in  MT several 
decades ago to take advantage of the local lumber mills -  since MT produces a 
significant amount of lumber from pine and fir.   Western Bee also sells 
directly to western beekeepers.  Most of our larger  beekeepers pull up with  
their flatbeds and 18 wheelers to get their annual  order.
 
When I first started out in bee-related research about 40 years ago,  the 
Western Bee mill ran three shifts per day.  At that time, the estimated  
number of bee colonies in the US was about 11M.  In more recent years, with  US 
beekeepers down to less than 3M, Western Bee was down to one  work shift per 
day (40 hr week), and they had diversified their  products, adding wood 
pellets made from the sawdust and shavings, and even  wooden toys.  The plus 
side for me - I could buy anything I wanted, get it  the same day.  And, 
they'd produce custom orders - such as modified nuc  hives that I used in my 
research.
 
The good news for Western Bee nowdays is that their business has  increased 
to the point that they are once again running at two shifts per  day.  For 
the first time in my association  with them, they are  sometimes back 
ordered by one-two weeks.  I can't just jump in my pickup,  drive up, and get 
anything I want on the spot.
 
In addition, their customer base used to be comprised almost solely  of 
Dadant and large scale beekeepers.  Their factory had a little walk-in  
counter, and Vicki took all of the orders.  But, now they've lots of  smaller 
beekeepers, who began showing up, and wanting to know where they  could see all 
of the products.  So, Western Bee knocked out a  wall and converted an office 
into a small display area.
 
In addition, Vicki had customers who knew exactly what they  wanted, and 
how many.  The newbies often had only a vague idea of what they  need.  As of 
this summer, Rick added another person to the order desk to  help Vicki.
 
So, its clear that there has been a major change in my  state.
 
Jerry


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