Hello Jim & All,

As I said earlier Tim Tucker and myself are looking into a possible problem
(brought on by the well documented changes in diesel fuel additives ) and
maybe even from over the counter additives as Ted suggested. I plan to stop
by our local Pilot & TA truck stops and check the labels and also ask the
clerk which are sold the most to the over the road boys.

> This could be a problem, assuming all the hives were coming from the east
> coast.

East coast are usually (not always) sent straight through if the route is
interstate 10 from Georgia or Florida.

However the two loads sent which I documented in my "Small hive beetle
border article" were driven by a regular  Adee bee hauler and he stopped
each night. Bee from the far east coast north are often sent to almonds
using a single driver and could spend 6-7 nights in truck stops enroute.

 In cold weather most drivers are in no hurry. Also delays in Wyoming are
common in winter due to rod conditions. I my self have been stopped for
those. When the big gates swing across the road you simply wait.

Some Florida commercial beeks prefer to pay the extra miles and send the
loads to almonds up I 65 to Nashville and then west across either I 70 or I
80 to California because of the cooler temps. I will explain further in an
article I am close to done with on trucking bees in hot weather.

>What about those hives that are brought in from much closer?

Less exposed but how much is too much?

>Where were Adee's bees staged before being moved into CA?

I think the Adee operation does as the Brown's do ( of which I do business
with ) and bring the outyards into places like Bruce, South Dakota (Adees)
on 10 wheelers or Hadamm ,Kansas (Browns) and then load for California.

When I did my first article on almond problems I noticed a pattern. The bees
trucked the furthers were crashing or showing up with bees on a couple
frames. The hives had been strong in the Dakota's. The pattern has not for
the most part changed. Especially with the Adee operation but It seems those
beekeepers which drive straight through have less problems than those
stopping each night. Of course my limited research is based only on a small
number of drivers which haul bees. I spoke with three drivers which haul
bees for the Adee's and all drove by their selves and all stopped each 
night.

Sincerely,
Bob Harrison


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