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Sun, 8 Jul 2007 16:29:13 -0400 |
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Lets see, in beekeeping you have; the flowers, the bees and the
beekeepers. So if there is a problem in beekeeping then it would seem to
follow that beekeepers are part of the problem. I’m sure someone will
correct me if I’m wrong on that. It seems ridiculous to consider
proponents of an environment that is healthy for native pollinators to be
the enemies of beekeepers. While we are asking ourselves what is good for
beekeepers, of course others will be asking what is good for the system as
a whole; you know the big system of beekeeping, agriculture, nature and
society. Some of those who ask this question may reasonably conclude that
what is good for the system as a whole is not bad for beekeeping, and maybe
it is even good for it in the long run. It is not wise to narrow your
focus of concern to the point where you loose sight of what is good for the
larger system of which you are a part. In other words whatever you do to
improve the situation for beekeeping had better be good for the whole
system, the environmental system the agricultural system, etc, or you are
just creating more problems for yourself down the road. Perhaps that has
already happened to a significant degree in beekeeping.
It’s foolish to think that migratory beekeeping is and can be the only
answer to the needs of those who have no particular attachment to having
their crops pollinated by honeybees. If the crops that need pollinating
are as economically significant as everyone says they are then if there is
better way than trucking honeybees across the country to get those crops
pollinated someone will find it.
The advocates of native pollinators certainly have not created the
pollination void left by the unsuccessful struggle to keep honeybees
healthy, but they have every right to try and find a good long term
solution to it. I just don’t see how that makes them an adversary of the
long term viability of beekeeping. It might make beekeepers the enemy of
what works, which is not a good position to be in.
The smart way to approach a system that is big enough to be pretty
much out of your control is to search for a way that you can fit into it
seamlessly in order to fill a need without creating an imbalance within the
system. You know you’ve done it right when your interests and the vitality
of the system you are a part of are enhanced and little or no integral part
of that system is damaged or lessened. As beekeepers if our interests find
us in conflict with those who are concerned about the health of something
as close to us as native pollinators, then we need to take another look,
expand our vision and see how both those interests can be served. It might
require some adjustment in the way we do things.
Steve Noble
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