My friend Edward Langlieb Master Gardener , organic only , sends me a copy
of a curious
article from the very intellectual publication  Acres U S A , March 1996
issue. Ed reads faithfully
Acres from his West Hempstead , N.Y. home/garden. Mr. Langlieb currently
gets his honey
from W.Oterson of Long Island Honey.
   Article title  "HONEYBEES MAKING A COMEBACK" (sounds too good already)
I quote. Over the last several years, American honey bee colonies have been
decimated by tiny
parasitic mites, known as varroa and tracheal mites. First detected in 1990,
the mites attack
both immature and adult honeybees,in both domesticated and wild colonies.
Growers of fruit
and bee-pollinated legume crops were becoming desperate to obtain enough
bees to pollinate
their crops.
     Michigan State University apiculturist Roger Hoopangarner says that
honeybee breeding
research is making progress in breeding mite-resistant bees and that the use
and management of
miticides has improved, increasing the survival rate of bee colonies.
     "Last winter we had about a 15% winter loss of honeybees, and that is
the lowest by far in
the past six or seven years,when losses at times reached 70%, "he said.
Hoopingarner said he is
optimistic that research will soon allow mites to be controlled. It will
take a few years, however,
before the mite-resistant bee strains become dominant in the populations of
wild and domestic
bees.
        Sorry folks this sounds like propaganda from the U S D A  to make
the population at large
feel appeased that all is well in U S bee hives. How far from the truth. No
mention of medication
abuse that might be making honey questionable. No mention of the famous
headache problem of
U S beekeepers called P M S (Parasitic mite syndrome) when mites and viruses
are on the same
bees. No call for more quick action needed to stop the downward spiraling
numbers of U S
beekeepers and U S  bee hives. and the pending pollination crisis facing
American farmers
dependent on honeybees for pollination. I thought mites were found in U S
bees in the 1980's .
          The U S beekeepers need accurate information to be given to the
public and public
support from awareness will be needed to get U S politicians to realize the
U S honeybee crisis
and to mandate that solutions be sought . Maybe a press release from the U S
D A is needed to
help us beekeepers become better prepared to tell our story and to enroll
the support of the
citizens of the United States of America. Of coarse a peer- review group
would have to proof
read their release for accuracy. We all know this will not happen as this is
an election year and
any suggestion of failure by the U S D A would be unheard of. Soo business
as usual look the
other way and maybe the problem will go away. Remember to find out how your
local
congressional people feel when casting your vote in November.
          A lover and keeper of the bees. Aloha Patton in Paradise
 
Walter & Elisabeth Patton,  27-703 A Ka' ie'ie Rd., Papaikou HI.,96781
    Ph./Fax. 808-964-5401       E-Mail  hihoney@ilhawaii
 
Beekeeper and Bed  & Breakfast Owner in Hawaii
 
  http://www.alohamall.com/hamakua/hihoney.htm
http://www.alohamall.com/hamakua/beeware.htm
   http://www.alohamall.com/hamakua/lamalani.htm