>> no one seems willing to step forward and admit something >> in public that would certainly defuse some unneeded hype, > Interesting, Now organic beekeepers are in a mass conspiracy. No, not at all. A conspiracy would require a level of organization hitherto unseen in connection with any aspect of beekeeping. They're just shy. Or embarrassed. > Feral swarm calls are only down only about 10 percent, > 20 percent at the very tops. Now this is a very interesting statement from someone who is running a "Feral Bee Project", as it should be obvious that "swarm calls" would not, by definition, imply that the swarm was in any way "feral", or from any colony that might be called "feral". >> Sharon Labchuk... > I don't understand why you assume the habit of attempting > to discredit persons instead of targeting what you disagree > with in their writings. Joe, I am surprised! Why would mentioning that someone was a member of the Green Party, a perennial candidate for election to local offices, and involved in the unfortunate PEI "Imidaclopid" situation be "discrediting" them? The point here was clear - that the "backstory" explains why Ms. Labchuck was predisposed to jump to the unwarranted conclusions to which she jumped. If you want to call that "discrediting", go ahead, but don't blame me for simply stating well-known and objective facts. My only reason for bothering to note Ms. Labchuk's recent history was to make the EXACT point I made: >> So, perhaps you can see that Sharon might have been >> just a teensy bit inclined to blame "pesticides" Accusing someone of some other agenda or intent is silly when the actual reasoning is made clear. > The CCD group has NOT eliminated pesticides from the list > of suspects Of course not. It will take the classical "smoking gun" to cross ANY of the suspects off the list. But if you listen, read, and ask questions, you encounter the term "pathogen" more and more. I think that says volumes. In regard to swarms, I've got two projects that I would be happy to invite others to participate in, both are colonies established in brick structures, both are several stories above the ground, and both appear to be fairly large colonies, given the number of sorties per minute. One is at Columbia U, and one is at PS-158 in Queens, NY. All participants would be signed on as 1099 contractors under a fully licensed and insured pest control company, and everyone would be covered by Workman's Comp and so on. We may be working from the "inside", or on scaffolds. Those with a fear of heights should sit this one out. I think that these "New York city bees" may provide the exact genetics you are looking for. Tough enough to survive and thrive in the midst of 8 million people (half who claim to be terribly allergic to bee stings), smart enough to set up shop in brick and concrete structures rated as "fall-out shelters" back when we were afraid of the Ruskies, and resourceful enough to find sources of nectar, pollen, and water in the midst of the "concrete jungle". These bees won't just sting you, they'll take your watch and wallet, too! :) ****************************************************** * Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at: * * http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm * ******************************************************