Hi All, ANDY NACHBAUR wrote: > Beekeeping is a political incorrect endeavor in the United States today, > and no one in California government is going to spend any money to > investigate problems for such a unpopular group Andy, I'm trying to figure out what you mean. Granted I don't live in the most "PC" part of the country, but I do work in a university environment which is seriously afflicted with the above condition. I've never heard beekeeping characterized in the way you describe. Perhaps you are using politically incorrect in a more literal sense, i.e. the honey subsidy smokescreen from the last election? Surely the public isn't gullible enough to bite on that one, even in California :). Where I live (North Carolina) people can't really throw those stones while the tobacco subsidy lives. I hope this doesn't seem like a divergence from the theme of this forum, but I'm genuinely interested in the problems facing commmercial beekeepers. As a hobbyist, people often ask me questions about the industry that I can't answer. I understand issues like overhead, profit margins, imports, and introduced pests pretty well, but I frequently read allusions to public and/or government prejudice against beekeepers. Is this real or just a general complaint about the inability of govt to do anything useful? When I tell people I'm a beekeeper, the reaction is almost universally positive. At worst, they think it's a little odd. Can someone enlighten me here? Rick Bodishbaugh