Baton Rouge AHB ( was neonicotinoids
Hello Jim & All,
Wow that's quite a tale Jim. Tom Clancy could not have done better.
The subject has been discussed before on BEE-L and is in the archives.
I have spoke directly with both Steve Tabor & Gary Reynolds on the subject
as both were at the lab at the time. They told me quite a different tale.
beekeeping history:
Dr. Kerr was the first to discover a way to ship semen. Also Kerr
was a geneticist and he shipped in a AHB gene he named the Y gene (If i
remember the letter from my talks with the above researchers about the
project) to Baton Rouge.
He had inbred to isolate the Y gene . A process which has been done by
Harbo and others for years. By using the process you can eliminate the
aggressive genes in AHB. The process which SMR ^ VSH queens are produced.
In fact many say the Midnight and Starline queen programs had thier start
with methods learned from Dr. Kerr.
The project was halted when Steve went on vacation and his higher up had
Gary R. depopulate ALL the experiment hives.
Jim is correct in a way as rumors about what was going on made the project
unpopular with higher up at Baton Rouge which did not understand the
project. Baton Rouge USDA is not all about bees.
Steve Tabor verified what Gary R. told me. Steve was surprised when he
returned from vacation and found a USDA_ARS ( non bee lab person) had
ordered the project eliminated. Steve was never consulted on the decision.
The beekeeper rumor mill had doomed the project which in my opinion was
decades ahead of the time period. Many beeks it seems are quick to buy into
rumors instead of the actual facts of the story.
Remember I was actively keeping bees at the time. I have done business with
Gary Reynolds for decades. After he left the USDA_ARS he became a
commercial
beek in my area. We are close friends and are both members
of the Kansas Honey Producers. Gary was president of the Midwest Honey
producers for around two decades. The largest group for which ONLY
commercial beeks can belong. Hobby ^ sideline not allowed.
bob
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