Hi All/Bill

A while back Bill asked a question about research into predatory
mites which might help the bees by eating the other mites.

I know there are many things which may be of help here. The USDA and
other departments important in helping beekeepers in the US seems to,
as with many scientific bodies, be a bit slow of the mark - always.

Beekeeping is a business - time=honey=money. In industry, when a
problem appears, that company mobilises all resource to solve it - or
go under. In beekeeping if a problem arises, one tells the extension
officer, who tells somebody else, who has to arrange a meeting with
somebody else, who tells ..... until one is given permission to apply
for a grant or whatever to do the research. By this time, the problem
is rather big. If the world ran like a company the problem would have
been fixed. Companies also don't view borders.

The recent example of Aethina tumida comes to mind - I think the
majority of US research being conducted about this pest is being done
in the US - with scant knowledge about it's natural history in
Africa (whichever part it is from).

A bit of creative outsourcing, genetic talent hunting and such would
help the average north american beekeeper!! African has hundreds of
little characters living in it's beehives. Most are unstudied. Many
eat each other (eg hive pseudoscorpion which eats things like braula
etc).

And in a country like SA one gets 6 times as much research for the
same cash input (US$/SA Rand conversion thingy), and the bees work
year round - so if anybody in North America needs answers fast they
should choose their base correctly (preferrable in Asia or Africa
where the bees are still bees)

If any beekeepers on the list have any sway with their government
agencies, please encourage a sort of global view thing. I am very
happy to say we have two people from the USDA coming to Rhodes in
September to work on A.tumida. This is great - and would have been
spectacular 2 years ago. Much space exists for similar
collaborations.

Just my opinion.

Keep well

Garth
Garth Cambray           Camdini Apiaries
15 Park Road
Grahamstown             Apis mellifera capensis
6139 South Africa

Time = Honey