In a message dated 3/21/00 1:04:45 AM, [log in to unmask] writes:

<< Interestingly, the generally upbeat feature on honey bees is illustrated
with a picture of a bumblebee. >>
   If increasing support for bees and beekeepers, honey bee research and
other programs is important, then beekeepers need to respond when somebody
publishes inaccurate, incomplete or highly conjectural information as fact
about honey bees. Beekeepers should make a point of writing a letter or email
to the media organization disseminating the offending information by pointing
out the inaccuracy, hyperbole, omission or whatever. If you can write a post
that will be approved by the moderators of Bee-l, then you can write a
publishable letter to any newspaper or magazine.
   I wrote an email to the Environmental News Network pointing out the
bumblebee graphic with the Jerry Bromenshenk article. Here was the photo
editor's response:
   Hello: I am the photo editor at ENN.com and I received your e-mail today

about the animal sentinel graphic.  Thank you for bringing this inaccuracy

to my attention.  I talked to the graphic designer who made the piece.

There was some difficulty in locating a quality honey bee photo and given

the deadline situation, this was the best that could be done.

  ...If you see anything else, please let me know.  Thank you for your
message.

Teresa Tamura

Photo Editor, ENN.com
   Next time, perhaps the graphic designer will try a little harder to find a
picture of a honey bee, or one will be made available to her. News
organizations want your letters. Speaking from years of experience working in
newspaper and magazine journalism, letters are considered a measure of the
vitality of the newspaper, and are one of the most read sections.
   Perhaps if beekeepers had been more proactive in writing letters to
editors when incomplete information was being presented to the New York Times
and elsewhere about the "nasty competition" of honey bees, there would have
been more public support for research and more options than just Apistan to
combat mites and other problems afflicting beekeepers today.
   What follows is an example of an effective letter to the editor of the New
York Times. It is well-written and respectful of all points of view, while
redirecting momentum away from the original editorial, which was a clear,
undiluted call from the editorial board of the New York Times for massive
action to save the honey bee. It's a good model for writing a good letter and
it must have been effective, because the NYTs hasn't made another such call
supporting the honey bee since:
HEADLINE: Pollination Needs More Than Honeybees
   To the Editor:
   Thank you for your Dec. 25 (1996) editorial "America's Endangered
Honeybees." The decline in wild honeybee colonies and resulting losses in
pollination services to
gardeners and potentially to commercial agriculture has led the United States
Department of Agriculture to describe the situation as an "impending
pollination
crisis." Yes, we need more money for research on honeybees.
   Another critical part of the solution is the quest for alternative
pollinators. In research we did this past summer, we found that bumblebees,
squashbees and other
native, wild insects were doing the lion's share of pollinating squash and
pumpkin flowers in Maine, Arizona, Georgia and Tennessee.
   The answer is to figure out not only how to save the honeybee, but also
how to manage other species of bees for pollination and how to sustain
populations of
wild native pollinators near our gardens and farms so that we have a
diversified pollinator portfolio. A pollinator-friendly environment fits in
easily with
integrated pest management techniques and other strategies for a healthy,
more sustainable American agriculture.
STEVE BUCHMANN
MRILL INGRAM, GARY NABHAN
Tucson, Ariz., Dec. 30, 1996
   The writers are co-directors of the Forgotten Pollinators Campaign,
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.