couple of excellent posts by Yoon and Randy. I completely agree. 

Let me point out that numerous organic/sustainable/environmental groups are taking on the 
honeybee as the canary in the coal mine - meaning they are the canary for industrial farming. non 
beekeepers a worried and concerned. this is the down side of the over blown gas bag media 
stories. people beleive that stuff and want to do something to "Save the Bees!"

The sheer mass of members and financial resources of these organizations of concerned citizens  
dwarf ABF and AHPA. 

my sense is these organizations are in the research and learning stage regarding honeybee issues 
and understanding how migratory beekeeping has different needs then the pastoral kind of 
beekeeping portrayed in many peoples minds. 

once the issues are better shaped and understood I could see where these organizations could be 
a major force in a push for common sense  regulation of the movement of bees. 

momentum and politics will come into play and the pollination industry may not like the outcome. 

too bad we don't seem to have any leadership in ABF or AHPA or elsewhere in the industry  to step 
up to the plate and do this internally in the industry. instead we have people digging their heels in 
acting like all is well and that somehow there is a  god given traditional  right to infringe on other 
beeks who are stationary. 

from the outside looking in tradition and the interests of a few hundred large almond growers and 
what 1000 migratory beeks will not carry much weight. the system looks out of control to a non 
beekeeper. 

best wishes to the old ways ..........they will make nice memories. 

as someone recently noted

all beekeeping is local - and most bee related problems are caused by movements of bees. 

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