Meanwhile, while the exterminators take aim at the wild bees:

A mysterious disorder killing honeybees across the nation has spread to
Arizona. And it's delivering another blow to the state's $11.8 million
beekeeping industry, which was racked by Africanized bees and other pests in
the mid-1980s and 1990s.

No one in the state is tracking the problem, and beekeepers say they feel
helpless against the threat to their livelihoods.

Dennis Arp, 55, had planned to rent 1,000 colonies to California almond
growers at $135 per colony. Practically overnight, he had fewer than 700
available - a loss of roughly $40,000.

"If it keeps at the pace that it's going, in terms of how many bees are
dying off, it could be huge," said Julie Murphree, a spokeswoman for the
Arizona Farm Bureau. "You just could not endure this level of die-off in the
colonies and then expect that we could have the same level of pollination."

There are about 50 commercial beekeepers in Arizona, according to the state
Department of Agriculture. A number of crops grown here depend on bees for
pollination, including melons, squash, cucumbers and vegetable seed crops.
Many beekeepers also raise bees for honey production.

The Arizona Legislature deregulated the bee industry in the mid-1990s. As a
result, the Arizona Department of Agriculture does not have the resources or
authority to investigate colony collapse disorder, spokesman Ed Hermes said.
No central agency is tracking reports of colony collapse disorder in Arizona.

"Our researchers don't seem to be on top of (this) at all," said Kenneth
Orletsky, beekeeper and former president of the Arizona Beekeepers
Association. "I'm a very, very strong conservative. I don't want government
in my business. (But) there are times when we the people choose to have help."

[should have thought of that before they sent them packing]

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