> A little knowledge is said to be a dangerous thing, but it is not
dangerous to the imagination.

I'm currently in Cusco, Peru after a speaking engagement at the Congreso
Latinoamericano.  A jetliner accident cancelled all flights, so I've got
four extra days to kill before I could book another flight home.

I was fortunate enough to get to visit a number of historical Inca sites.
The Incas had imagination, intelligence, and an amazing capacity for hard
work.  Their engineering of stonework and irrigation systems is impressive
beyond words.  And their science of plant breeding, and seed production
facilities takes my breath away.  I loved going back in time seeing the
beautiful indigenous farming communities that still remain.

Currently the beekeepers in Peru are experiencing a gold rush of demand for
pollination units for blueberry and avocado pollination.  It's like deja vu
for me, after going through the gold rush for almond pollination in
California starting in 2005.  I cautioned them to realize that it would not
last, and showed how our almond industry is currently working things out
with us North American beekeepers.

> anything lacking the context of the parade of exotic invasive pests and
pathogens is of little value to the modern practical beekeeper.

The situation in Latin America is amazing to a beekeeper/biologist such as
myself.  There is a full range of climates for beekeeping, due to latitude
and elevation.  And they are changing.

There are areas with European bee stock, semi varroa-resistant Africanized
stock, or a mixture of the two, and a big interest in the native stingless
bees.

The Korea haplotype of varroa is still prevalent in Chile.  The ingression
of DWV-B is occurring erratically.  Other viruses are evolving and playing
roles.  And of course there are the bacterial and fungal pathogens also
evolving.  And huge interest in Small Hive Beetle.

The poor beekeepers are being forced to learn about dealing with all these
parasites, as well as pesticides and colony nutrition.  What struck me was
the disparity between the university molecular biologists (who are doing
great research) and the need for applied research and well-informed
extension agents.


Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
530 277 4450
ScientificBeekeeping.com

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