On Wed, 24 Jul 1996, Tim Sterrett wrote:
 
>        The majority of beekeepers keep bees because they are fascinated by
> bees and by beekeeping.  We could buy honey in a store and save ourselves
> money.
>      When each of us started keeping bees, we learned what we had to do to
> keep them alive and healthy.  Real old timers could probably tell us about
> things they did to bee colonies that are no longer done today.  When I
> started keeping bees in the early 1970's, American foulbrood was the big
> worry.  Foulbrood does not seem to be as big a problem in the 90's.
>       If you start keeping bees this year, you will learn how to keep your
> colonies healthy.  With timely and proper care, bee colonies thrive.  That
> has not changed.
 
  Hi Tim, Now things are not as easy as they use to be , before the
mites.We need to treat the bees and need to pay more attention to there
health then before the mite.We do have other pathogens that are working
over the bees also. ( Viruses)I don't think that we are in for a complete
 breakdown in beekeeping. We all need to use our heads and not make things
worse than they are or we will be in real trouble.The use of chemicals
that are not tested by qualified researchers is a bomb ready to go off.We
will beat the mites , but we need time and help when ever we can so we
don't cause apistan to fail us too early.
 I'm expanding 300% next spring and I'm looking forward to a growth curve
over the next few years.We will loose more beekeepers this winter along
with there bees.Some parts of this Earth is just getting the T mite.We
still have mountains to climb , but it feels great to see how many
friendly beekeepers we have around the world that are helping to solve the
problems.All real beekeepers have a place in there heart for the honey
Bee.I know that we have reseachers all over the globe working on the
problems that the bees face.We must follow there advice if we are to
win.Lets keep our honey clean and pure.Beekeeping goes back a long way and
man has always look to honey as a pure sweetner that God has given us to
enjoy.Lets keep it that way , we are following many, many generations of
beekeepers that worked hard to keep honey pure.I feel that we will get the
help that we need , when we really need it the most.Right now we need to
help fellow beekeepers learn the new rules in beekeeping. Some will give
up , but others we can hold up with our help.
 Best Regards to Everyone
 Roy