Hello All,

>it seems to me that there are 2 ways in which researchers
should be paid/funded to go around and vist commercial
apiaries that are having problems.

To my knowledge USDA-ARS researchers can not charge for their services.

1.  they are hired as consultants by the apiary, just as any
business would hire a consultant to solve problems....the
reports and data would belong the apiary that hired them.

There are a few private trouble shooters. The most famous charges $300 an
hour ( hey that's what most good lawyers charge!) and many have said the
trouble shooter was worth ever cent. When you run a very large operation and
you need advice on what type of treatment to do and advice on spending
thousands of dollars  then $300  hour consultation might be considered
worthwhile.

2.
what's the deal here?  can we be assured that queen/package
suppliers that had enough problem with ccd that they were
visited by researchers didn't ship bees to customers that
were possibly infected?

Unless some "new" problem is found then package shipment can not be stopped.
package bees are important to the industry. If you worry then do not buy
packages. Raise your own queens. Make splits.

The ONLY safe way  I know of.

Consider varroa was mostly spread by package bees as were tracheal mites.
AHB has long been sent in package bees out of those AHB areas. Most SHB
finds in states can be traced to package shipments. Certainly our Missouri
SHB finds were traced back to a single shipper.

Hobby beekeepers for the most part buy from areas of problems. Those full
page adds gets um every time!

Many commercial operations quit buying package bees out of AHB areas years
ago. Quit buying package bees out of SHB areas (unless you live in an area
of known infestation) but hobby beekeepers kept on.

Sure problems could come from packages from an outfit with known CCD
problems but before the USDA-ARS can even *think* of stopping the flow of
packages they need proof the problem exists. Futile attempts have been made
to stop package flow ( tracheal mites, varroa mites, AHB & SHB) but have
always been unsuccessful.

The migratory beekeeper was easier to stop so they took the heat for the
package industry as migratory beekeepers understood the need for a strong
queen/package industry.  Migratory beekeepers were held up for brief periods
until reality set in on the *powers that be* and movement was again resumed.

Efforts to legislate away varroa,tracheal mites, AHB and SHB have not
worked.

bob


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