We got chased our of the West Side( of the San Joaquin Valley) in 1940.
We went back when DDT came along because we could live with that but I guess
people couldn't so they out-lawed it and started using parathion and all of it's
cousins. In 1960 I organized the Delta bee Club and became president of the
California State Beekeeperes Association.
        My mainproject was to work with the State and the Farmers and the
applicators. I organizied meetings and atttended conferences, much as Andy
describes, and I decided that we were not going to get get cooperation from any
of those peole. Oh, there were a few farmers who were sympathetic. At least they
were sympathetice while they were renting our bees to pollinate their crops.
        I quit. I sold my bees and tried a few other things. Andy had been
working with me and that is when he took over and did as much as anyone can but
the beekeepers didn't have enough leverage and they wer not willing or able to
cooperate in refusing pollinating contacts in the areas of danger.
        Andy is much tougher than I. When the going got tough I got going...into
another area or another business.
        I never had any hives of bees killed by insecticides. Well, hardly ever.
My queens and bees were so weakened that I was replacing 400 of my 1000 hives
every spring.
        When I went back in we tried to keep away from the poisons. Then I came
to Hawaii and it is so rural here that they don't use airplanes for spreading
sprays and dusts. They just use helicopters to find illegal weeds so if you keep
your bees away from the marijuana patches you can avoid even paraquat.