Aaron asks:And even if I were to quickly jump to a pesticide poisoning
conclusion, how would I begin to find the source?  Where would I begin?


That's precisely the issue that we've been looking at in Montana.  At one
time, the U.S. didn't have mites and for a short period, this country had a
beekeeper indemnity program AND every state had an apiculture specialist.
Most states have cut their bee inspection/registration/etc. programs.

When one does have or suspects a pesticide related problem, nowadays,
there's often no one who knows where to even start, much less sort out
issues like mites, pesticides, environmental stressors, pollution, and
interactions of any or all.

Some progress has been made.  EPA's Office of Environmental Monitoring and
Assessment and its Office of Pesticides Programs co-hosted a workshop two
week ago in New Port.  With the assistance of the Council of Governor's,
they brought in speakers from academia, the U.S. beekeeping industry,
related disciplines, Pollinator conservation groups, and even Heather Clay
from the Canadian Honey Council.

We hope to carry these discussions to the next stage on July 13 in
Missoula, MT as part of the Annual Meeting of the Western Apiculture
Society, Holiday Inn Parkside.

We invite all interested parties to attend/participate.

Sincerely

Jerry J. Bromenshenk
Bee Alert, Univ. of MT
President, Western Apiculture Society

P.S.  The WAS web page will be posted this week.  The meeting is July
13-15, and includes a wide array of speakers, as well as tours of MT
Naturals and Western Bee equipment manufacturers.

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