The WaPo confirms that the USDA ARS may soon have a head with little
interest in science, and less ability to understand his employees that any
other person who has ever held the position:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/05/13/trumps-e
xpected-choice-for-the-leading-usda-science-job-isnt-a-trained-scientist/

http://tinyurl.com/kv46nfs

Sam Clovis essentially has a high-school level of science education.
He has a BS in political science and government, an MBA, and a PhD in public
administration, according to his LinkedIn page.
These are "liberal arts" majors, so math and science is not a part of his
schooling.
(This is why so many politicians need to be repeatedly reminded that Dark
Matter has nothing to do with the Black Lives Matter movement.)

The story of Jonathan Lundgren and his attempts to merely get his work
published without censorship is now verified by a survey indicating that 10%
of USDA researchers say that their work has been "tampered with or altered
by superiors 'for reasons other than technical merit' ", so things are
unlikely to get more researcher-friendly now:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/04/21/some-us
da-scientists-say-their-work-has-been-tampered-with-maybe-for-political-reas
ons/?utm_term=.3c4ff7fd102c

http://tinyurl.com/k67mhsr

The rational response would be to move to private industry, where one is at
least paid better for having one's work misrepresented by the PR office.
The government retirement plan is good enough to keep anyone over 40, even
under conditions of extreme stress, and industry tends to discriminate
against  older, less pliable staff.
There is always academia, but this is not a growing area in bee research, as
even the funding promised for "CCD" never actually materialized as tangible
funds for universities.

As far as climate change goes, my bees today enjoy one of only a handful of
clear and warm foraging days so far this spring.  It is mid-May, and they
have missed out on the bulk of their spring blooms, as foraging weather has
been, at best, marginal for honeybees.

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