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Subject:
From:
Andy Nachbaur <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Discussion of Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 5 Nov 1996 14:12:00 GMT
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 _____             _ _                _
|  ___|__  ___  __| | |__   __ _  ___| | __   on previous posts
| |_ / _ \/ _ \/ _` | '_ \ / _` |/ __| |/ /    "China Gate"
|  _|  __/  __/ (_| | |_) | (_| | (__|   <    "Save Our Bees"
|_|  \___|\___|\__,_|_.__/ \__,_|\___|_|\_\
 
When the OLd Drone posts his stingers it is always a mixture of
personal experience, opinions and facts. Facts are not always easy
to get these days as they seem to change from hour to hour. If any of
you have watched the news wire services now available on the internet
you know what I mean. All this makes it more important to have some
background sources of information and more time then not these sources do
not want to be quoted. I appreciate those in the beekeeping industry who
have tried to help me keep the facts straight via e-mail and phone calls.
So now I post a tad of the information from feedback and some new
thoughts gleaned from what some would call deep background from within
the honey industry and the regulators that serve it.
 
As beekeepers in North America celibate the past year at the many
winter beekeeping conventions going on even as you read this other US
beekeeper representatives will be in Washington, DC to meet with high
officials in the Commerce Department and other departments of government.
One hot topic for the beekeepers who have spent more the $300,000. for
professional help to level the playing field between China who was
dumping honey into the US market at less then the real value. The
beekeepers made their case with the trade commissioners and sanctions
were imposed on the amount of honey that China could ship to the US.
This has since expired and all seems well with those who paid the
high cost for what should have been FREE service of their government were
satisfied as they had seen a substantial increase in the price of honey
along with the decrease in China honey imports, or so they thought...
 
The facts are turning out to bee a lot different then what we all
thought we were seeing thanks to a few importer/exporters who worked
fast to circumvent the laws of the US and this has been under active
investigation for almost a year by the Commerce Department and others.
 
Some of the details of my own investigations:
 
1..The US Embargo on Chinese Honey was a failure because of several
Canadian importer/exporters who may have actually sent more honey from
China to the US then the amount embargoed by the US Chinese
Honey Embargo.
 
2..If the price of the Honey increased it was NOT because of the embargo
on honey from China and was due to a increased demand in the world for
honey, including in some countries that have been considered exporting
producers and some short falls in production.
 
3..The funds that the two US National Beekeeper originations collected
from their memberships and spent, big bucks for such a small industry,
and they spent more then they collected, was made into a waste because
of the smarter Canadian importer/exporters who circumvented the embargo.
The industry should investigate seeking relief from those involved in
Canada and other places if any convictions result from the on going
investigations for the payback of the $300,000. spent by the bee
industry.
 
4..The United States Department of Commerce in its international trade
activities has been made to look very impotent because of the
activities of a few importers/exporters of honey, and for a year has
been actively investigating all Canadian exports to the US and may be
preparing to take some sort of action directed towards the individuals
involved.
 
5..The US Beekeeping Industry will have representatives in Washington
this week to meet with high level Commerce Department Officials and
all continue to recognize the close, historical, and special ties
between the US and Canadian beekeepers and are not involved in any
Canadian bashing efforts at all. Interested beekeepers on both
sides of the boarder should be concerned and discuss these events in
their meetings and conventions.
 
6..There may be some legal action on the US packer/importer/exporter
level that could be taken because some US parkers have been damaged by
the loss of business to the China Connection Honey from Canada.
 
7..All the facts are not in and I have yet to find out if Canadian Honey
from China has entered the US in consumer size containers..But for sure
some of the honey that is sold in Canada to Canadians as Pure
Canadian Honey may be in no small part honey from China.
 
On the GM not General Motors "save the bee campaign" I reported not
finding any "tie in" promotions between the honey industry and GM.
Since then I have found out that within this food giant that uses the
good name of HONEY to enhance the value of the products they will be
using much less pure Honey in the future. I also found out there is
little coordination or tie in's between their own advertising and
promotion department and the product purchasing department that buys the
honey used by the company. I am told that their honey purchases are
dropping from more then 5 million pounds of a few years ago to a
threatened 2 million or less pounds in the next year. This may be
because the management blames the honey producers for inflating the
price of honey, and honey is not considered a "essential" ingredient in
their products such as "Honey Nut Cheerios". No wonder the amount of
honey in each box of cereal is a propitiatory secret as it may have
already been dramatically reduced at a cost to the beekeeping industry
in a much larger dollar amount then if we all were able to eat the
400,000 boxes of Honey Nut Cherrios and paid the postage to send in the
bees cut from the box and get the $100,000 prize for beekeeping
research. This all smells like the frozen HONEY CROSS BUNS sold
nationally that contained NO Honey, and when the food conglomerate was
asked about this false labeling practice they said the purchaser could
add the honey when they consumed the product. There was nothing on the
package that indicated that they should do that.
 
               Happy Election Day, Vote Early, Vote Often!
                    Enough for now, ttul the OLd Drone
 
 
(c) Permission is granted to freely copy this document
in any form, or to print for any use.
(w)Opinions are not necessarily facts. Use at own risk.
---
 ~ QMPro 1.53 ~ I Love HONEY! I Love HONEY! I Love HONEY! I Love U HONEY!

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