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From:
allen dick <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
allen dick <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 22 Feb 2007 21:26:27 -0800
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> I think this is a clear situation where the market system failed. If 
> government had stepped in and regulated things properly, there would still 
> be a cod fishery today.

Interesting.  Which government would you imagine to have been the potential 
savior?  Ships from the other side of the world were as responsible as any 
in the debacle.  Maybe a world government?  Be careful for what you wish 
for.

> Leaving that aside for the moment, I will risk Alan's wrath by playing 
> Nostrodamos yet again.

It is not my wrath that people should wish to avoid.

> I think it is fair to say that migratory beekeeping increases stress on 
> bees and exposes them to increased invasion by pests and diseases. To 
> combat this, the beekeeper has to use more drugs more often. Sooner or 
> later this is going to result in contaminated honey.

This is not late-breaking news.  It has happened, and is happening, and will 
happen.

> If we ever lose the healthy reputation our product has in the public mind 
> we will have nothing but pollination to live on. Therefore I think it is 
> prudent to discuss how this might be avoided.

Too late.  It has already happened in the real world.  The day beekeepers 
started relying on packers, a road to ruin was chosen, and that road has 
been followed until we are near the bitter end.

There is really no way a packer can maintain the integrity of honey, given 
what has to be done to make it into a "food product", and a packer has 
little incentive to do so either.  The race to the bottom is nearly done, 
and any commercial honey I taste these days reminds me more of syrup than 
the honey I produce and which I once sold direct to consumers.

> I thought Peter Dillion made some good observations about our industry.

Peter has been around and seen things from many perspectives. He always has 
interesting views.

> I hate this border debate because for years now it has diverted all energy 
> and attention away from equally important issues.

And turned many formerly profitable Candian beekeepers into subsistance 
farmers, thanks to pressure and lobbying by people who rely on other things 
than honey and pollination for a livelihood.

> It may be that Canadian beekeepers decide the benefits of an open border 
> outweigh the risks. But I think it is the beekeepers who should decide

I thought that was what you were complaining about in your first article. 
You said,

> There is an ongoing discussion in Canada about the risks and benefits of 
> opening the Canada/U.S. border to the free movement of beehives. Some feel 
> that doing so would improve the economic viability of beekeeping 
> operations in both countries, by increasing management and income 
> possibilities. They argue that a modern beekeeping industry needs to move 
> hives across international borders to help pollinate crops so that we can 
> feed the world's growing population.

The advocates of this are not government, scientists or posers, they are 
beekeepers, and the largest and best beekeepers.  Once the CAPA people and 
the beaureaucrats and the posers get out of the way, and the real beekeepers 
are allowed to decide the issue on its real merits--the financial health of 
beekeepers and their industry, not just the hypothetical health of bees--the 
decision is easy.

> ... not the almond producers in....where is California, anyway?

I'd hate to think that anyone who has to ask that question is involved in 
any kind of important decision making.

> BTW Alan, there are no ancestral homes in Dog Creek. Ancestral dogs, but 
> no houses.

Actually, it is "Allen", that was a *simile*, and where is Dog Creek anyway? 
Don't answer. I know. (Beautiful area).

I also know where the almond growers--and California--can be found.

allen
Writing tonight from Bakersfield, CA 

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