-- Allen Dick <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> CCD may or may not be a real syndrome, but it is keeping quite a few people, including writers, occupied and labs funded.
How can that be a bad thing?

hi allen,

i can't really tell your intent here...is there sarcasm in these remarks?

my response to these few lines would be:

1.  by definition, displayed symptoms indicate a syndrome.  a syndrome is real or not based on if there are symptoms.  that said, there may well be more than one 'syndrome' being seen.  there may or may not be more than one set of root causes.

2.  keeping writers occupied concerns me not....especially if they are writing about something that "might not be real".  the problem with keeping writers occupied on such a mission is that they are spreading what they write about to the public.  garbage in, garbage out.  if the writers are misinformed, poorly informed, or way out in left field...they "infect" the public with such.  

imho, this is the same logic that caused the nhb to praise the 'bee movie' as an educational film, and spend money in co-promotion.  not every discussion of bees does the industry, or the children/public good.  what actually goes on in a beehive is much more interesting than male bees doing all the work, driving cars in the hive, and collecting nectar and pollen with guns.  the public was ill served by this 'work of art', and beekeepers were ill served by the nhb supporting it in word and dollar.  ...same goes for the stories of ccd in the media.  the closer we get to the truth, the better.  the closer we can get writers to the truth to help the public get closer to truth, the better.

2.  ditto for the labs.  i've been impressed by much of the work that has been done...especially at penn state.  we have learned a lot...a lot about bees, and a lot about how beekeepers treat their bees.  but keeping labs funded by keeping writers occupied who in turn turn up the panic level of the public seems silly.  funding labs for the sake of funding labs...the snake eating it's own tail.  there is important work for researchers to do...and some of it is being done as a result of ccd.

i speak to a few hundred people a week about bees, and everyone is concerned that the "bees are dying."

"pesticides" are always what the farmers and homeowners use...never what the beekeepers put in the hive.

migratory pollination contracts pay big bucks...especially the almonds.  reward is in direct proportion to investment (enough bees to bring to the almonds, transportation costs), supply, demand, and risk.  losing bees under such circumstances isn't surprising.  picking up and spreading disease under such circumstances isn't surprising.  ...which is why, if one can fulfill these contracts and avoid the above problems, the payoff is big.  is losing bees while attempting to do this any different from going broke on a risky investment?

the way we tend to grow food in this country (monocrop farming) both requires insect pollinators, and cannot support insect pollination.

....these are the stories that the public should be reading.  dealing with these issues will help us as a nation, and as humans living on earth fund the labs to do needed research.

deknow

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