Sarina Jepsen writes:

> The Xerces Society is not 'anti-honey bee' and we have no plans to advocate for regulating the interstate movement of honeybees.

Dear Sarina,

That may be the current official position but when I look at your
publication I find quite a different story. I don't see how you can
claim to not be "anti-honey bee" while classifying them as an
"invasive species". I admire efforts to preserve nature wherever it
remains but the fact is that people and their activities will often
impinge on pristine nature.

We beekeepers expect to be included in any cost/benefit assessment
regarding the protection of what may be already doomed species. In any
case, I don't think it is a bit unfair to question the motives of this
petition.

Xerces has openly asked for the support of numerous honey bee
researchers and has presented a deeply flawed case, especially
regarding the $3 Billion dollar value of native pollinators. It took
me 20 minutes to show that that figure is an utter fabrication.

Excerpts from a Xerces publication:

E. Invasive Species

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are not native to North America. The
European honey bee was introduced to eastern North America in the
early 1620’s and into California in the early 1850’s. It has long been
assumed, but difficult to demonstrate, that honey bees have a negative
impact on native bees through competition for floral resources (Sugden
et al. 1996; Butz Huryn 1997). Recently, Thomson (2004, 2006)
conducted competition experiments on B. occidentalis colonies placed
at three distances from introduced honey bee hives. Thomson found
decreased foraging activity, especially for pollen, and lowered
reproductive success in Bombus colonies nearest the Apis hives. Evans
(2001) found the same results in a similar study with B. impatiens
colonies in Minnesota.

Honey bees may threaten bumble bee populations through carrying and
spreading pests and diseases to which bumble bees are susceptible. The
invasive pest, the small hive beetle (Aethina tumida) was introduced
to the United States in the late 1990’s (Elzen et al. 1999). While
honey bees are the small hive beetle’s primary host, the beetle has
been shown to also infest and cause damage in bumble bee colonies.

from "Status Review of Three Formerly Common Species of Bumble Bee in
the Subgenus Bombus"

Prepared by: Elaine Evans (The Xerces Society), Dr. Robbin Thorp (U.C.
Davis), Sarina Jepsen (The Xerces Society), and Scott Hoffman Black
(The Xerces Society)

In none of this discussion have I ever pointed a single finger at
anyone, nor have I named any names, other than the authors of these
publications. I have tried to conduct a discussion on what is a
serious regulatory issue that the American taxpayers will be expected
to pay for if it becomes law.

I believe we American citizens should be given a choice in the matter
of spending millions of dollars to protect native pollinators whose
intrinsic value is incalculable, but whose direct value to the
national food supply has been grossly exaggerated.


Peter Loring Borst
Ithaca, NY  USA
peterloringborst.com

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