At 11:35 AM 4/17/98 -0600, you wrote:
 
>I took a quick look at the article you ranted about.
 
>Then I went back to see specifically what you objected to.  Seems to me
>that your sole objection was that a bee researcher was being paid by
>California taxpayers.
 
>I saw nothing in your rant to explain why the article was reporting bad
>science.
 
>A little substance once in a while would improve your postings.  I wrote
>that and realized it wasn't fair.  Your postings often do have substance.
>A little substance with your "opinion" pieces could help provide some
>justification for your postings
 
Hi Kenn,
 
Thanks for the comments and you are write. I will try to do better next time.
 
I was trying to make it brief and I guess I took to much out and I will try
to keep this short.
 
My main objection is the use of Bee Science to advance one's personal
opinion and that is what I read as contained in Dr. Page's story. My own
opinions are much different and have been voiced many times and  I did not
feel to repeat them would serve any cause other then fill up the treads but
I will do it anyway.<G>
 
Varroa mites do not themselves kill all bees in an apiary or a hive, and
may only be present in large numbers when other conditions are met such as
extend periods of brood rearing or individual hives that are failing for
whatever reason. It is my own guess that one or more viruses are
responsible for the great dramatic losses of bees reported and seen by
myself and others off and on for almost 50 years in my own experience. Few
Scientists understand and can talk both honeybees and the virus story so
for the most part little is said. Some good work has been done in England
in the past and continues today but it is mostly overlooked by American Bee
Scientists and beekeepers for good reason and that is so far there is
little practical that can be done about them.
 
As for aggressive bees, they need not be African but many bees in all ways
can be demonstrated to have the "killer" bee traits said to be of the
African bee. The facts are that all bees kept on in the desert southwest
from Texas to California are by any standards "killers" when compared to
the same bees kept else ware. The genes may now be different now that we
are looking at them but is it not the aggressive behavior that is seen to
be the problem of the African bee anyway and if there is no real difference
why worry.
 
Varroa mites having impact on Africanized bees in the US is just so far out
that its hard to respond to such dribble.  The same can be said of the
impact on Agriculture by African bees as if the African bee was going to
have such impact why would we not see it now when a present some if not
many of the bees moved into California agriculture are Africanized and some
of these same bees are then moved to the Pacific Northwest, East Coast,
then to the North, back to the South to start the trip all over again next
winter. The reason is clear, NO one is looking at the hive bee populations
to see what they are, and for good reason as the cost would be more then
the value of the bees being looked at and what to do if they were found to
be Africanized is now a problem that can not be overcome by the poor
quarantine laws that would not stand any legal challenge. If any bees are
"killers" its the bee keepers problem and not the states just as it has
always been and should be.
 
Last the big change in beekeeping in my lifetime is the control of swarming
in our bees. When I was a teenager one job in the bee business was that of
the "swarm catcher". This was one of my own first jobs in the bees. I once
caught 100 swarms in a small town here in July and July is not the prime
time for swarming as it is/was in April. As swarming was reduced over the
years the populations of feral bees also was reduced. Again this is nothing
new, but because no one was looking all of a sudden it's news. It takes not
5 or 15 years to have background data on the feral bees but should have
been a on going lifetime of scientific work which it was not so no
scientific background data supports any reported reduction of feral bee
populations in the California or the US.
 
The feral populations are nothing more then reflections of the hive bee
populations and their condition and management. The number of bee hives has
indeed decreased as the farm population has decreased. Beekeeping is no
longer a part of the general life on the farms as it once was but has
become a industry of its own and in many cases is not based on the farm at
all.
 
Bee management continues to change. We also have switched from keeping semi
permanent bee yards to bees on wheels and now some years no bees are kept
in some areas as in the past so less and less swarms go out into these
areas. What I see is that feral bee populations have leveled off to what
any one area will naturally support and in many areas this is very small in
most years. This years is an exception here in California and all areas are
rich in bee pasture so feral populations will show an increase overall. And
of course if the hive bees have pests, predators, and disease, so will the
feral populations and if the hive populations suffer because of it so will
the feral. What's the big deal anyway......!  Some even go as far to say
that the reduction of feral honeybee population make it better for the hive
bees and they will be more productive, others say good feral numbers help
reduce the spread of the dreaded "killer" bees, so no matter which way it
goes there will be a winner, and the winner will change from year to year
if my observations are judged to be correct.
 
None of the above is science because I say so, and if Dr..OLd Drone had
written it, it would not bee science. Science is what they do at Rothamsted
take a look at:
 
http://www.res.bbsrc.ac.uk/entnem/research/chdpage1.htm
 
And even here they are now trying to tie the viruses and varroa together
which does not explain why many areas that have both do not have dramatic
losses or explain why this year the number of losses from Varroa is zilch
in the US. Viruses do change but Varroa is expected to stay the same, but
then others will say we have European Varroa and then others say we have
Asian Varroa. I suspect we have had and will continue to have great
episodes of dramatic bee loss as in the past and they will as in the past
be explained by the pest, predators, disease that is in flavor that day.
 
ttul, Der OLd Drone
 
 
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in any form, or to print for any use.
 
(w)OPINIONS are not necessarily facts. USE  AT OWN RISK!