New Zealand has undertaken a scientifically sound survey (funded by our industry) to determine what pests/diseases of bees are present. We can speak with assurance of our relative freedom from the pests/diseases that are causing problems in other countries. I urge Mr Patton to have the same sort of survey done in Hawaii. I repeat, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. NZ beekeepers do not 'pay him (Dr D Anderson) a lot of money to disspell the concern about bee viruses'. We do not pay him anything - he works for CSIRO, I believe. We *did* pay him as a bee pathologist some years back - and while in that role he found Kashmir bee virus in NZ bees! You don't pay scientists to tell you just what you want to hear... NZ recognised that with the way the world markets were going, it was sensible to *seriously* survey our bee populations to find what was out there. Again, I urge Hawaii and other countries to do likewise, so these discussions can consist of facts, rather than emotive slurs. (Figures in next paragraph reported in pounds - sorry, most of the world!) Mr Paton provides figures on honey production and suggests we should 'ponder these facts regarding the health effects of bee viruses.' The figure he quoted for NZ honey production for 1995 did not come from the NZ Beekeeping Home Page. Rather than 'about 40 lb' per hive, the average for NZ in 1995 was 61 lb. The year before the national average was 90 lb! The average of the previous five years (a better method of determining crop, as it avoids over/under reporting due to especially good/bad seasons) for NZ is 64 lb. How does this affect Mr Patton's ponderings that NZ production is affected by the health effects of bee viruses? If you want to learn more about the NZ beekeeping industry, the WWW pages Mr Patton refers to are a good starting point. Check out the NZ Beekeeping Profile document! http://www.internode.net/~allend/nz/nzbkpg.htm Finally (sorry for the length of the post) I would like to thank Mr Patton for his comments that NZ beekeepers are 'advanced and skilled marketeers'. We are also highly professional, consistent, organised and honest. ------------------------------------------ Nick Wallingford President - National Beekeepers Assn of NZ home [log in to unmask] work [log in to unmask] ------------------------------------------