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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ginger Kelly <[log in to unmask]>
To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <
[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2019 21:22:34 -0500
Subject: Re: [BEE-L] Varroa, 30 years later

If I may be so inclined to add, to the best of my knowledge since the 2014
Farm Bill, possibly before then, the federal government has given states
millions of dollars in revenue to provide disaster assistance for honey bee
farmers.  A disaster may be colony loss due to severe weather, earthquake,
tornado, wildfire and also CCD.  Rewarding honey bee farmers for losses
with disaster assistance money, rather than production and protection
revenue, puts a big kink in the idea of eliminating "subpar" colonies as a
pre-winter practice in the early 20th century (page 316 of the article you
just cited, The Fall and Rise of the Honey Bee, American Bee Journal, March
2015, p. 315)  Today, if a commercial beekeeper eliminates 35% of his hives
before winter, he would miss out on some very substantial revenue.  At the
rate of $140 per hive, that's a big hit.  My question is, does subsidizing
colony loss have anything to do with the REAL truth about honey bees,
colony loss and historical management techniques beekeepers used to avoid
large percentages of overwinter dead outs?

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