Hello All,
Reading Allen_s post on cleaning up the FGMO posts for Best Of Bee-L caused
me to think about the issues.  I get the list in digest form.  I rarely post
to the list.  I am content to read and learn.   I read all the posts one
after the other.  Sometimes I am bothered by a certain post and wish to hit
the old "reply button" and have my say. But by the time I am finished I have
calmed down and tend not to even consider a reply.  This is a good safety
valve in that it keeps me from shooting from the hip.  I think sometimes we
are too quick say what we think and then regret it later. I often read a
post and think "this will "stir the pot" and sure enough the hip shooters
are there. I would caution some members to wait just a few minutes, possibly
read some other posts before you hit the reply.  (This will probably gets
some shots fired).
 
My views on the FGMO issue: I think it works and I hope that the researchers
will study it and discover all that is needed to prove beyond a doubt that
it is safe (something I already believe) to use in the hive.  I don_t
believe there is a group out there trying to undermine it on the basis of
market monopoly for Apistan.  But I do know that there is no commercial
corporation out there that will spend any money to do research that will not
generate profit.  That will be left to university researchers and interested
individuals, and thank God they are there.  As it is been said in a number
of posts there is no financial gain for a corporation to do it.  I learned a
number of lessons when I left the university environment and took a job
doing R&D for a large corporation.  I was told early on that I was not here
to do a great service for mankind.  I was here to develop new products that
the corporation will make a good profit on.  When a project failed, or even
succeeded but was not a financial gain, a number of good research personnel
quickly found themselves unemployed.
 
Now some twenty years later I find myself dealing with government
regulations and agencies on a daily basis.  One thing I have learned is that
most regulations started off with a good idea but in the bureaucracy have
sometimes lost focus.  I have found this to be a way of life.  One shouldn_t
spend a lot of time trying to understand how an agency "thinks".  Example:
 If I use FGMO on my top bars to keep the bees from building burr comb the
EPA could care less.  However if I do the same thing to control mites, their
jurisdiction kicks in.  A lot of time has been spent on the list discussing
such points.  The fact of the matter is it is pointless, so why waste time
discussing.  In stead lets be thankful for the free thinkers like Dr. R. for
coming up with great ideas that may solve problems and the researchers like
Jerry and his team for the work they do to make sure the ideas truly work.
 We need them both.
 
Now for those of you who have managed to hang in there this long, I have a
real bee question.  What is a good way to clean frames that have been used
to make cut comb?  It takes me longer to scrape out the old wax than it does
to build a new frame.  Even though frames are not expensive I have trouble
throwing one away rather than cleaning it.  OK I am cheap.  Any suggestions
would be appreciated.  Gee maybe I should have put this at the beginning of
the message, I doubt many have lasted this long.
Thanks,
Ron Bogansky
Kutztown, PA