> "The future security of America's food
> supply depends on healthy honey bees," 
> said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. 

> IMO, beekeepers oversell their case and 
> undermine their credibility when they 
> rely on this type of hyperbole

Vilsack is not, to my knowledge, a beekeeper.  He is a career bureaucrat.

His statement, in perspective, should be an welcome relief to beekeepers.
In recent history, beekeepers have been forced to engage in several
letter-writing campaigns to merely keep the USDA Bee Labs open, each time
because everyone simply "forgot" to fund them with the paltry pocket change
that forms their miniscule budget.

So, when the Secretary of Agriculture talks about "bees" and "pollination",
this is an absolutely and unconditionally VERY good thing.  

One should avoid biting the hand that is literally feeding Midwestern bees.

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html