Hello Bee Folks,
   I was was watching tv this morning and while "surfing" I came across
a piece about bees. There is a beetle that has shown up in Florida that
is really doing a job on the hives that it has been found in. It is
eating everything in the hive and the hives are dying.
   The beetle comes from Africa where the "African" bees eat the eggs
laid by this beetle. They keep it in check. Our bees however have not
learned to eat the eggs so the beetles thrive.
   This report was about the beetle in Florida but at the end of the
short segment. the comentator said that recently the beetle has been
found in hives in South Carolina. He also stated what we have all know
for awhile now. 90% of all wild honey bees in this country are gone and
60% of the comecial bees are gone.
   So along with the usual conditions that bee keepers have had for
decades along with the "mites" we now have a beetle to contend with. The
future of the honey bee does not look good.
   At this time there doesn't seem to be a way to get rid of the beetle
without killing the hive it is in. So either we kill it or the beetle
does.
 
Gary C. Lewis
Duke Center, Pa.
USA.