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Subject:
From:
"JOSEPH F. ROSSMAN" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Discussion of Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 11 May 1997 17:49:10 -0700
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Paul Cronshaw, D.C. wrote:
>
> I just finished reading this book by Douglas Whynott. I read it cover to
> cover in one reading session.  It was so interesting that I couldn't put it
> down.
>
> I highly recommend reading for those who think that commercial beekeeping
> is all fame and glory.  Far from it.
>
> I am curious if anyone on this list knows if some of the main characters in
> his book:  Andy Card, Bill Hurd, Tom Emde, Reggie Wilbanks, Horace Bell,or
> Joe Romance are still moving bees these days?  Are they still around to
> face the latest menace: the AHB?
>
> 6 years have passed since "Following the Bloom"  was first published. I
> would like to see Mr Whynott (or another knowledgeable person) write a
> sequel to this book that deals with the spread of varroa and now the
> invasion of the AHB  (AKA"Brazilian" or abejas furiosas") . His book was
> written just prior to the 1990 invasion of the AHB into Texas.
>
> Mr Whynott writes in the opening chapter of his book,
>
> "Questions arise:  As the Africanized bee moves into the United States,
> will migratory beekeepers be   able to travel? Can they afford the
> liability insurance?  Will they cause the spread of killer bees or will
> they in fact control their movement? A broader question involves
> pollination. If hobbyist beekeepers quit in fear of "abejas furiosas", and
> if commercial beekeepers  are bankrupted, how will the food economy be
> affected?  What about those billions of dollars' worth of bee-pollinated
> crops?"
>
> Like the healthcare business (Eg. Columbia buying up hospitals) , it
> appears that the big commercial beekeepers will keep getting bigger.   Also
> I have noted,  with the rise in price of honey and pollination fees
> (Almonds went from $35 to $42) and shortage of hive parts,  there has been
> an increasing demand for bees in the pollination business.   Are we
> beginning to see an increase in the number of hobbyist beekeepers or have
> the commercial beekeepers just expanded/merged to keep pace with the
> demand?
>
> Mr. Whynott writes in the last chapter of his book:
>
> "The commercial beekeeper, like Hurd, would not only kill off a hive of
> Africanized bees, he would replenish it with gentler stock.  The hobbyist
> beekeeper, one of that other 99 percent of beekeeping population, would
> also be likely to kill off the Africaniaed colony, but chances are that he
> would not soon replenish the hive.  Chances are that the hobbyist beekeeper
> would quit beekeeping.  The beekeeping population would thus decrease by
> one beekeeper and one of several hives.  It's likely that as the
> Africanized bee moves through Texas and Louisiana, many beekeepers and
> their hives will drop along the way.  At least that's the way things
> happened in Latin America."
>
> Has this been happening across the Southern States of the US?
>
> He goes on to predict:
>
> "People like Hurd, Card, Embe, Wilbanks, and Bell are the ones who can
> respond to the spread of Africanized bees, and will curtail them.  Not
> because it's in their interest, but because they're the most able"
>
> Will it be the commercial beekeepers, or education of the Hobbyist
> beekeeper that will be most able to deal with this AHB invasion?
>
> It is amazing how the reading of one book can make someone start thinking
> about the future. Lets hope it is a bright one for the American Beekeeper.
>
> Paul Cronshaw, D.C.
> Cyberchiro and Hobbyist Beekeeper
> Santa Barbara, CA  USA
 
 
PAUL;
YOU ASK THE QUESTION IF ANY OF THOSE PEOPLE LISTED IN THE BOOK WERE STILL
AROUND.  TO MY KNOWLEDGE THEY ARE ALL STILL KEEPING BEES AND PRODUCING
HONEY, POLLINATING, AND SHIPPING PACKAGE BEES AND QUEENS.  OF COURSE EACH
ONE YOU MENTIONED HAVE A DIFFERENT PHASE OF THE INDUSTRY THEY WORK IN.
 
AS FOR HOW THE AHB IS GOING TO BE STOPPED IT IS GOING TO BE UP TO ALL WHO
HAVE BEES TO HELP CURTAIL THE PROGRESS OF THAT BEE.  OF COURSE THE
COMMERCIAL BEEKEEPER WILL DO HIS BEST BUT IT CERTAINLY WOULD NOT BE IN
THE BEST INTEREST OF THE INDUSTRY FOR THE HOBBIST OR PART TIME BEEKEEPER
TO TURN TAIL AND RUN. EVERYONE HAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO HELP IN THIS
SITUATION.
 
YOU MENTIONED A FEW NAMES THAT WERE IN THE BOOK, HOWEVER I HASTEN TO SAY
THAT THERE ARE MANY BEEKEEPERS IN THIS COUNTRY THAT FOLLOW THW BLOOM.  I
TOO WOULD LIKE TO SEE SOMEONE CONTINUE WITH A FOLLOWUP TO THE BOOK
 
FRED ROSSMAN
ROSSMAN APIARIES

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