I began my beekeeping interests in Tucson as a biology student at the
University of Arizona. The staff that I met at the bee lab are first
class. Considering the logistics of insect migrations and disease, I think
a laboratory on the desert frontier is essential for the security of our
nation.
 
David
 
 
On Tue, 11 Jun 1996, <Larry Connor> wrote:
 
> To: All interested parties
> From: Larry Connor, Wicwas Press
> Re: Industry response to plan to close Tucson Bee Lab
>
> The following letter was sent to all members of the U.S. House and Senate
> Agriculture appropriations Subcommittees on 28 May 1996. The final letter was
> prepared by Mary Kay Thatcher of the American Farm Bureau. 202 484-3604 fax.
>
> Since most of these people involved in the preparation of this letter are not
> internet users, I feel it is important to post this letter on the B-List.
>
> Letter to House and Senate Ag Appropriations Subcommunities
>
> The undersigned organizations, representing the entire honey bee industry as
> well as a vast majority of farmers who need bees for pollination, wish to
> bring to your attention the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Agricultural
> Research Service proposal to close the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in
> Tucson, Arizona. There are several reasons why we believe this is not in the
> best interests of beekeepers or of factors dependent on bees for pollination.
>  The research needs facing the bee industry have never been greater. Mite
> problems continue to plague beekeepers. Heavy loss of colonies continues at
> an alarming rate, despite treatment. The continued migration of the
> Africanized Honey Bee will cause more beekeepers to experience problems while
> posing significant public health problems as Africanized bees and humans
> interact. Their impact on pollination is still not clear. Other serious
> problems include chalkbrood and foulbrood, wax moth and viral bee diseases,
>  The Carl Hayden Center is important because its strategic location in the
> desert allows researchers to conduct year-round activities on bee and
> pollination problems. The Center recently developed a public education
> program to assist pest control officials remove the growing number of
> unwanted and potentially dangerous Africanized honey bee swarms, The Center
> was the first ARS facility to have a home page on the World Wide Web, which
> currently serves 13,000 customer requests per week for information on bees.
> Earlier this month, the Center's home page won the Secretary's Award. for
> public service. The Tucson Center is ranked by the ARS as its second most
> productive bee lab and among the most productive of all ARS laboratories.
>  We understand the budgetary realities that you must address. We want to
> assist you in meeting those goals and believe this can be accomplished while
> maintaining a strong research program to address honey bee and pollination
> problems. Included in this, is transferring wild bee research programs from
> the ARS facility in Logan, Utah to other ARS laboratories. Additional budget
> savings, if necessary, should be accomplished by seeking the input from ARS
> customers-beekeepers and pollination users. While we understand the financial
> constraints imposed upon ARS, we believe alternatives are available that
> minimize the impact to ARS' total bee research program. Closing the Tucson
> lab will have a significant, negative impact on bee research in the U.S.
>  Thank you for considering our views.
>
> American Beekeeping Federation
> American Farm Bureau Federation
> American Honey Producers Association
> International Apple Institute
> United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association
> Western Growers Association
>