[log in to unmask] (Gordon D. Hayes) by e-mail to me proposed:
 
>Sen. Daniel R. Coats (R) IND. says: "Screw worms and honey bees. It is hard
to believe that taxpayer's hard-earned dollars are used to support programs
that intersect with these little creatures, but they do. And it has to end.
Now."
 
>He adds that $5 million were appropriated last year to research them. He
says the United States doesn't have a problem with honey bees. He also says
that privately funded research would work just as well.
 
>Maybe we should inundate Sen. Coats with letters telling him just what kinds
of problems the United States has with honey bees. I myself am going to write
him a letter and invite him to come visit with some local beekeepers and see
for himself.
 
   Okay, here's mine, and I hope you don't mind my sharing it on the bee list
and elsewhere. (Apologies to those outside the USA)
 
April 16, 1995
 
Hon. Sen. Daniel Coats
101 N. W. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
Evansville, IN
47708
 
Dear Sen. Coats,
 
   I feed you every day!  I am really upset by your slap at my endeavors.
 
   You don't seem to realize it, but I am one of the producers (and proud of
it!) of this country.  My bees pollinate several million dollars worth of
South Carolina and Florida produce. Watermelon, squash, cantaloupes,
cucumbers, strawberries, apples and kiwifruit are a few of the crops
Ipollinate by contract with farmers.
 
   It is outrageous that you seem to think that bees are irrelevant in our
agriculture, and are anxious to cut the modicum of support for this very
troubled industry.  You maintain that there is no problem with honeybees and
the tiny amount of research has to be cut. The government spends lots of
money supporting parasites; but cannot toss a few crumbs to producers??!
 
   The wild bees are gone; the farmers are relying on me to make their crops,
but I am having a hard time keeping the bees alive, and there are never
enough hives for the need.
 
   When you slice a watermelon and see that half the seeds are white, you
already know that it will not taste good. And it never will, because it is onl
y half pollinated; it cannot fully ripen.  The farmer did not have enough
bees for the 8-20 visits required to the female blossom in the couple hours
it is viable.
 
    Applications of pesticides made in violation of label directions
(pesticide MISuse) weakens and kills my livestock.  And authorities look the
other way, refusing to enforce pesticide laws that protect bees. Would our
society tolerate mass poisonings of any other kind of livestock?
 
  New diseases and parasites are also battling them, greatly increasing my
expenses.
 
   I do not receive compensation anywhere near proportional to the
contribution I make to society.  I have done it for years for the love of the
job and the bees, but I am getting tired.
 
   We have lost a third of our beekeepers in the last ten years. If and when
the beekeepers are gone, you will see the Apocalyptic horseman (Famine) ride
in the land. One third of our food must have bees, and almost all of these
must be supplied in modern agriculture. Pollination does not just happen.  It
is a necessary part of farm management.  Honey is almost irrelevant in the
evaluation of the worth of honeybees.
 
   I hope you will seek out and find better sources of information on
honeybees and pollination, before you take any action.  I am sure you will
then become an advocate for the bee industry.
 
   I am preparing bees right now to go to watermelons, cucumbers and other
fields.  I would be pleased to show you (in person) just what this involves,
and how much work I do to feed you. Come and visit.
 
Sincerely yours,
 
David L. Green
 
cc:  Will be provided other interested parties