I sympathise with Tomas and his fellow beekeepers wanting to use
the 'fynbos' ecosystem (of which I know nothing special).
        Could you add to the argument a more fundamental question about the
relationship of the fynbos  -  or any other ecosystem in which bees can
thrive?   I have in mind to query the 'zero sum' assumption from that
depraved trade economics  -  that one's gain must be another's loss.  God
has not made nature like that.  It is my belief  -  which I admit I have
not tried to check scientifically, so please let us hear from the
apiscientists on this list  -  that bees stimulate flowering plants to
produce more nectar & pollen.  I am suggesting a net gain in the
productivity of the ecosystem, rather than an economists' zero-sum process
in which the bees' gain is assumed to cost other spp.
        If this is a proven fact, at least in some cases, then is it not
possible that the fynbos habitats lose nothing from the viewpoint of other
organisms when stimulated by the noble honey-bee?
        (In my country we have many fine nectar-eating forest birds, some
of which are threatened, and many hives near those forests; but I have not
heard the honey-bee accused as a cause of the birds' decline.)

        From a practical, political viewpoint, could not the burden of
proof be placed on those who claim the fynbos will be harmed by beekeeping,
rather on those who think as I do?  Whether this can be legally done will
depend on whether the postulate I mention has been tested in fact.

R


        >tomas mozer wrote:
>
>> FYNBOS VITAL FOR BILLION RAND FRUIT INDUSTRY - STUDY
>> CAPE TOWN 5 June 2000 Sapa
>
>The Western Cape Bee Industry Association also carried this article in its
>latest newsletter CAPENSIS. Beekeepers here are in two minds on the issue.
>
>Firstly: Large tracts of Fynbos are under the control of the Department of
>Nature Conservation (DNC). Their domain is expanding due to the dangers of
>informal settlements on unused land in the Western Cape. Their policy is
>simple:
>beekeeping is not allowed within DNC controlled areas. To the extent that even
>historically accessible sites are now included under their control and
>beekeepers asked to leave.
>
>Their policy is simple, yet, unproven: According to them bees could be
>responsible for inbalances in the food chains within the fynbos biome.

-
Robt Mann
consultant ecologist
P O Box 28878   Remuera, Auckland 1005, New Zealand
                (9) 524 2949