[log in to unmask] (John D Schneider): >First of all, I love beekeeping, and have the highest regard for it, both as a profession and as a hobby. But I sense a great deal of tunnel-vision in the posts of the many distinguished folks we have heard from. >Sure, beekeeping has it's problems, from AHB to mites to pesticides to regulation, and research will need to be done if these problems are going to be solved. But let me ask the fundamental question none of you have asked, "What business does the government have in funding research for a private industry"? If the beekeeeping industry needs government money for research to solve it's problems, then so does every industry. Every industry has it's needs. Should the government fund research on apple trees, corn, soybean, lettuce, or every other crop anyone grows for a living? Each has it's own specific problems it is trying to solve. What about the non-agriculture businesses. The glass industry, the paint industry, the steel industry, the fishing industry, the automobile industry, the list is in the thousands. Should the government fund research for every industry in the country? If so, how could we afford it? And if not, why does beekeeping rate and the others don't? I won't flame you; you raise some good points, and I am inclined to agree with you on philosophical grounds. But you are missing a couple of very relevant input points. Agriculture in general, and beekeeping in specific, have not shared in the benefits of modern America in true proportion to the contribution they make. I have watched my father struggle and work hard all his life; he was a top-notch farmer, and one of the most productive of all American workers. Today he has virtually nothing. Dad had to carry the money lender, the farm implement dealer, the chemical folks, the local machine shop, and a score of others, all of whom provided *services* to *help* him, most of whom lived better than he did, and are comfortably retired today. As a beekeeper, I can see that I am headed in the same direction, but it is probably too late to change course. My work is not valued by others; in 1989 the state poisoned my livestock to the extent of three years of my productive life, to recover to somewhere near where I had been. No one in authority has made any step toward justice; all are inclined to look the other way, and cover their own butts. If it matters, the poisoning was done illegally, by a state agency, charged with protecting the environment, in the form of a pesticide applied in violation of label directions. Your company and many others fund research in agriculture. I have no proble m with that, as research is always needed. But the purpose of that research is oriented toward making ever bigger profits for your company. Who funds the needed research for items that cannot generate big profits? If I decide to plant ten acres of strawberries, I can go to my extension office and get reams of information on plastic mulch, irrigations systems, soil fumigation, pesticides, nursery stock, etc. There are folks making good money off each of these, and extension is responsive to that. But any information on pollination will be sparse, if available at all. (I am trying to fill this info gap, myself, to some extent, but finding that it is very expensive and difficult, even to do on a very small scale. I do not have the resources of a large corporation, nor do I see any real hope of profit in this; it is simply to do something that is needed). I won't embarrass you by asking you how much your endeavors reward you, and compare it to my rewards for mine; just mention the possibility that tunnel vision can work in alternate directions as well. The beekeeping industry is down for the count. Many of my colleagues have quit, and I may soon be forced to join them. If beekeeping is a vital part of our nation's food supply, and it is very much in danger of being lost, is this not a valid matter of public interest? If our steel industry is in trouble, or our automobile industry, etc., we as a people have determined on occasion, that some form of emergency aid is in the national interest. Certainly beekeeping should have the same treatment; unfortunately it is so poorly understood, that it may be too late by the time awareness sets in. I have always been skeptical of doomsday prophets. But today I am convinced that we will see famine in America (and probably other areas that thought they were exempt, too), within the next decade or so. I am not gloryi ng or wallowing in this; I shrink from it, only recognizing it as the only possible conclusion to trends I see operative today. Every year we have more parasites and fewer producers. There are those who are capable, but content to let society support them; there are also those who rake off rewards far in excess of their real contribution. Too many parasites kill the host. Think about it. As I said, couldn't the producers be tossed a few crumbs? [log in to unmask] Dave Green Dave's Pollination Service & Eastern Pollinator Newsletter PO Box 1215, Hemingway, SC 29554