DH>From: David Hinz <[log in to unmask]>
  >Date:         Tue, 11 Jun 1996 20:56:56 -0700
  >Subject:      Re: Tucson Bee Lab Closure
 
DH>I began my beekeeping interests in Tucson as a biology student at the
  >University of Arizona. The staff that I met at the bee lab are first
  >class. Considering the logistics of insect migrations and disease, I think
  >a laboratory on the desert frontier is essential for the security of our
  >nation.
 
Well, David, I agree with you about the personal at least the one's I
have ever had the opportunity to work or meet with in the past from
Hamilton to Levin. As far as the "essential" and having a "desert" lab
I would say that if it had been built in an area like Central California
or Northern California it would not be closing today as it would have
had several billion dollars worth of farm crop support from farmers
who depend on bees for crop pollination plus the largest and most active
group of commercial and hobby beekeepers and in the spring a large
percentage of all the bees on wheels in the United States who take part
in one of the great wonders of the agricultural world, the movement of
800,000+- hives of bees to pollinate 400,000+- acres of almond trees.
Plus a direct connection to several of the best agricultural higher
education institutions in the world and many other universities and
numerous private, and many other government agricultural research labs
of many flavors most of which are also closing now.
 
I had a home in Arizona myself and my X wife is a UA alumnus and still
sits on several agricultural committee's and boards dealing with
fed-state extension as I have at the UC Berkeley representing beekeeping
industry interests long ago to the regents and university president and
know how good the UA and UC are, just is case some will say I am writing
from the shallow prospective of a un-informed California beekeeper.
 
Water over the falls now, but then it was a political decision to build
the bee lab in Tucson which has never been 100% utilized for bee
research and now it is a political decision to close it, one with
little hope of change by the beekeepers.
 
I never worked at the lab, but spent much time with the people there
from day one and at other times doing much jawing and much library
research of my own. It was a good place for near retirement USDA
personal to set up their new homes outside of the snow belt before
retirement and a surprising number of them now live in the area
including a few old time bee keepers at Green Valley. Kind of a perk
within the USDA system and not one that necessarily gave us the best bang
for our buck from its leadership with retirement on their minds.
 
Many beekeepers got more then tired at hearing year after year at annual
beekeeping meeting from upper echelon USDA bee scientists of
reorganization plans and seeing boring charts of the science of the
structure of the USDA research command with the name and command changes
when they had real bee problems in their bee hives at home they had to
live with every day, including annual death loss the was growing every
year for less then 10% in the 50's to 50%+- in the 90's.
 
PMS, now bPMS is typical of the so called BeeScience work product output
by the USDA. Anyone in the interested public who stands back and looks
closely can see that over the years the USDA has spent more time
renaming reoccurring bee problems that they could not find viable
explanations for then providing solutions other then the annual carrot
always held out to the bee industry to keep them interested, such as
the new natural approach to bee pests, which is not new and may not be so
natural.
 
It is my personal observation that outside of the beekeeping
and farm organizations with their paid managers there is not enough
grass roots beekeeper support anymore for bee research in the US. I
believe this is somewhat a back lash for the bee quarantine mentality
of the USDA Bee Research leadership and the destruction of the lives of
some innocent beekeepers who were found with so called pests through no
fault of their own, and the total quit, a real silent spring, from the
USDA bee research personal at all levels, many who knew better at the
time and stood by and watched if not acting as cheer leaders.
 
The fact is that USDA bee research appears to be more bee regulatory and
big chemical business orientated then a problem solving research
organization for the common everyday variety bee problem and their
keepers. No so when it comes to helping chemical companies, and one
lucky chemical company with the help of the USDA has managed to in a
short time to get into the beekeepers pockets to a greater extent then
any manufactures of new beekeeping equipment. In no small part
responsible for the near depression in the beekeeping equipment
manufacturing business. Reference the placing of the bee industry on the
"farm chemical merry go around" and the necessity of the USDA now
begging the same beekeepers to find bee stock that has never been
treated with the "approved" chemicals which is in direct opposition to
the best advice they have been putting out. Then if you were a Hawaiian
beekeeper and believed the same USDA bee research people sold out cheep
your interests in healthy bees to a foreign interest would you give
anything more then lip service to keeping the same so called Bee
Research system going?
 
                           ttul Andy-
 
 
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