Lets see, in beekeeping you have; the flowers, the bees and the 
beekeepers.  So if there is a problem in beekeeping then it would seem to 
follow that beekeepers are part of the problem.  I’m sure someone will 
correct me if I’m wrong on that.  It seems ridiculous to consider 
proponents of an environment that is healthy for native pollinators to be 
the enemies of beekeepers.  While we are asking ourselves what is good for 
beekeepers, of course others will be asking what is good for the system as 
a whole; you know the big system of beekeeping, agriculture, nature and 
society.  Some of those who ask this question may reasonably conclude that 
what is good for the system as a whole is not bad for beekeeping, and maybe 
it is even good for it in the long run.  It is not wise to narrow your 
focus of concern to the point where you loose sight of what is good for the 
larger system of which you are a part.  In other words whatever you do to 
improve the situation for beekeeping had better be good for the whole 
system, the environmental system the agricultural system, etc, or you are 
just creating more problems for yourself down the road.  Perhaps that has 
already happened to a significant degree in beekeeping.   
     It’s foolish to think that migratory beekeeping is and can be the only 
answer to the needs of those who have no particular attachment to having 
their crops pollinated by honeybees.  If the crops that need pollinating 
are as economically significant as everyone says they are then if there is 
better way than trucking honeybees across the country to get those crops 
pollinated someone will find it.  
     The advocates of native pollinators certainly have not created the 
pollination void left by the unsuccessful struggle to keep honeybees 
healthy, but they have every right to try and find a good long term 
solution to it.  I just don’t see how that makes them an adversary of the 
long term viability of beekeeping.  It might make beekeepers the enemy of 
what works, which is not a good position to be in.  
      The smart way to approach a system that is big enough to be pretty 
much out of your control is to search for a way that you can fit into it 
seamlessly in order to fill a need without creating an imbalance within the 
system.  You know you’ve done it right when your interests and the vitality 
of the system you are a part of are enhanced and little or no integral part 
of that system is damaged or lessened.  As beekeepers if our interests find 
us in conflict with those who are concerned about the health of something 
as close to us as native pollinators, then we need to take another look, 
expand our vision and see how both those interests can be served.  It might 
require some adjustment in the way we do things.


Steve Noble   

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