Hi Tim,

Re:  "I would take issue however with a couple of the adjectives used
regarding Mid-west bees and their propensity to be judged as "shitty bees". "
I in no way meant to impugn either midwestern bees nor beekeepers--from
everything I've seen, you guys are both intelligent, and experts at what you
do.  And certainly don't deserve the blows you got this season.  We
Californians produce plenty of shitty bees ourselves due to our lack of
summer pollen (we commonly go 6 months without a drop of rain).  We have to
combine down ourselves, and most locals that I know have gone in over the
years without inspection.  I'm small time, and am only guessing, but I guess
that growers faced with paying $150 wanted to make sure they got their
money's worth.

I apologize if I sounded flippant in my posts, because I really feel for you
guys, and think you got screwed big time.

I completely understand about midwestern bees being bred for small winter
clusters that build up later.  When I've sold nucs to the midwest, I've made
a point of stocking them with queens from midwestern, rather than Calif
breeders.  I've also seen great bees come out from east of the Rockies, and
explode when they warm up here.

We're all struggling, and I sure don't want to add to any animosity.

I agree with you that the growers, brokers, and out-of-state beekeepers
better learn to work with each other, or the growers will really be hurting
for bees in a couple of years.

Randy Oliver
Calif

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