> Some come for bee information, some for excitement

Honestly, for me it's information. Especially now that gatherings are cancelled. I was looking forward to going to the AARP meeting; I still have my fingers crossed about EAS Louisville. What some of the commercial beekeepers forget is that small holders like myself are not divorced from the problems of migratory beekeepers, for several reasons. 

There is a large number of big beekeepers who move in and out of our region. I don't know where their yards are, it is so well forested and hilly that you could put 120 hives a mile from me and I wouldn't know. Maybe I should get a drone with a camera and scope it out! The way I am affected is that I and many of my friends buy bees, either packages or nucs. 

I switched to packages only a few years back because the nucs had so much chalkbrood and other muck. Last spring I got packages from California and in two months the varroa mite levels were over the threshold (3 per 100 bees). I am not blaming anybody, just pointing out whatever you got, I got. I know commercial beekeepers who dose the whole outfit with TM, treat for mites by the calendar, etc.

It seems pretty clear I will keep bees until I die or can't find my way to the bee yard. And I don't want to turn inward and relive the "good old days." So, Bee-L is my main way to "keep up." I really have no interest in picking on anyone, but I refuse to tiptoe either. Send me your cards and letters, but don't drop by the house unannounced. 

Bee Well!

Pete in the Finger Lakes
thinking: spring is a long way off, here.

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html