Greetings
It is worth noting that every time a writer suggests that pesticides may not be at the root of the bee decline, he is accused of being on the payroll of a pesticide company. No one bothers to question what role the beekeeping industry has had in this calamity.

Every winter for years, beekeepers have been taking their hives to California for the biggest pollination event in the world. The majority of the country’s bee are placed cheek to jowl in an environment that consists of one flowering crop: almonds.

Why do they do this? To provide food for the nation? No, they get cash for every hive they can bring. The almond growers are feeding the nation, then? Nope. 70% of the crop is sold overseas.

So, the beekeepers cram their hives together, risking the transmission of whatever viral infections they have, and then they haul them back to their home state, possibly to bring infections to homegrown hives which are never trucked about.

And to add insult to injury, the beekeepers are now suing the EPA, probably hoping to make a case for some huge subsidy (to pay their trucking costs?). If people really care about bees, they should purchase honey and support local beekeepers.

Peter Loring Borst
Finger Lakes Bee Club
Ithaca, NY USA

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