Baton Rouge AHB ( was neonicotinoids
   Hello Jim & All, 
   Wow that's quite a tale Jim. Tom Clancy could not have done better. 

   The subject has been discussed before on BEE-L and is in the archives. 

   I have spoke directly with both Steve Tabor  & Gary Reynolds on the subject 
   as both were at the lab at the time. They told me quite a different tale.  

   beekeeping history: 
   Dr. Kerr was the first to discover a way to ship semen.  Also Kerr 
   was a geneticist and he shipped in a AHB gene he named the Y gene (If i 
   remember the letter from my talks with the above researchers about the 
   project) to Baton Rouge. 

  He had inbred to isolate the Y  gene . A process which has been done by 
  Harbo and others for years. By using the process you can eliminate the 
  aggressive genes in AHB. The process which SMR ^ VSH queens are produced. 
  In fact many say the Midnight and Starline queen programs had thier start 
  with methods learned from Dr. Kerr. 

   The project was halted when Steve went on vacation and his higher up had 
   Gary R. depopulate ALL the experiment hives. 

  Jim is correct in a way as rumors about what was going on made the project 
  unpopular with higher up at Baton Rouge which did not understand the 
  project. Baton Rouge USDA is not all about bees. 

  Steve Tabor verified what Gary R. told me. Steve was surprised when he 
  returned from vacation and found a USDA_ARS ( non bee lab person) had 
  ordered the project eliminated. Steve was never consulted on the decision. 

  The beekeeper rumor mill had doomed the project which in my opinion was 
  decades ahead of the time period. Many beeks it seems are quick to buy into 
  rumors instead of the actual facts of the story. 

   Remember I was actively keeping bees at the time. I have done business with 
   Gary Reynolds for decades. After he left the USDA_ARS he became a 
  commercial 
   beek in my area. We are close friends and  are both members 

   of the Kansas Honey Producers. Gary was president of the Midwest Honey 
  producers for around two decades. The largest group for which ONLY 
  commercial beeks can belong. Hobby ^ sideline not allowed. 



  bob 

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