Thanks Juanse!

> "The indicators are pointing in the same direction. I know that we get 
> good
> production from my bees that are in the woods by a 400-acre organic dairy
> farm in Tremont. I get 100 pounds of honey per hive there, compared to 
> zero
> at another hive (located near fields that are sprayed)," he said.

The above testimonial has got to be worth talking about! Easy and  simple 
and to see. Researchers have always steered clear of pointing fingers at the 
pesticide industry.

The reason is also simple. Hard to prove in court. Also funding is not 
available to prove pesticides are causing problems. Funding only comes when 
the bees dying is a new and needs research issue.
I have been involved in the pesticide killing bees issue for decades and I 
know what I am talking about.

*if* the nations pollination is the big issue then the help needs to be 
focused in the area of commercial beekeeping. Commercial outfit after 
commercial outfit is closing doors and the only possible future solution is 
hives from Mexico.

A once a year presentation at a national meeting is not a lot of help!

China reps *are* trying to by into U.S. beekeeping. Not for the bees but for 
the beekeepers store markets so they can eliminate the middle men like 
Barkmans & Dutch Gold. The large chains like Wal-Mart, Costco & Sams are 
only interested in low price and a China owned U.S. beekeeping enterprise 
could quickly take over the market.

As the beekeeper disappears local honey (or even U.S. honey) will become 
scarce.

Many countries would not mind seeing the Washington apple industry or other 
U.S. industries fail due to lack of pollination  making the U.S. dependent 
on having our fruit shipped in from their countries.

The opening of the Mexican border will drive down almond pollination prices 
which has been the one bright spot in U.S. commercial beekeeping and perhaps 
the single most important thing to save many operations which would have 
failed by now if almond pollination prices had not soared in the last 
decade.

To look even farther into the future one hypothesis is that Mexican hives 
have not seen the losses like the U.S. beekeepers have seen but that once 
many of these operations send bees north their hives will start failing. 
Only a hypothesis but I can assure you many U.S. commercial beekeepers will 
say they wished they had never started going to California as that was when 
their troubles first started..

Many Canada beekeepers (if not most) I speak with are content to stay away 
from almond pollination. At least until research comes up with some 
solutions other than simple hypothesis as to why bees are dying.

One told me almond pollination can be described like the beekeeper stuck in 
the mud wanting another beekeeper to get in the mud with him and try to pull 
his stuck truck out. Reports are of a huge shortage this year in almonds.

realistic question:
What will almond growers do if they can not get enough bees from U.S. 
beekeepers?

Doing nothing not being an option.

bob

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