Regarding the effect of the NHB. What were the imports last year? Surly
one of our readers could give us a five year review. If memory serves me
correctly last year I read that in 1996 that imports of foreign honey
increased 66% in one year for a total of 144,000 TONS of foreign honey.
Packers don't care what kind of honey that they are marketing just MAKE
PROFIT. I think that the record will show a staggering amount of imports.
At a time when America is losing jobs to GATT and NAFTA is putting US
farmers out of business why should the Americn honey producer/beekeeper sit
back and be taxed to support marketing programs that only increase demand
for foreign honey.
        What if honey prices were just $.10 cents per pound more? How many more
people might be employed by the bee industry.
Look around in your area do you have lots of new young people eager to get
into beekeeping? I think not and we must have beekeepers to keep lots of
healthy US bee hives not for honey so much as for pollination of 1/3 of all
the food we US  Americans eat every day.
        Take action today and write to stop the proposed NHB changes before they
are put to a vote. The voting scam rules favor the packers and it will be
too late if it comes to a vote. Also write USDA about the bad ideas
expressed in their propose d rule making.
 
PUSH United States Honey
 
Walter in Hawaii