> I could go for a lesson, so far all I've learned here is 
> how to piss and moan about this so called CCD.

Well, Mr. Jarrett, the TV says that if you moan when you piss, 
you should see your doctor at once, and ask your doctor about 
FloMax, but why do you think so many people are so concerned
about this so-called CCD?

a) Is it a conspiracy to defraud the taxpayers?

b) Are the beekeepers and researchers involved delusional?

c) Are the beekeepers and researchers involved just stupid?

d) Something else?

> Now its fear tactics, we will all lose our bees unless we 
> flush more money down the drain.

I don't think anyone has ever thought that we will all loose
our bees, but we've seen some operations loose enough hives
to put their future in the business at risk.

So SOMEONE will likely "loose all their bees", or enough bees
to put them out of business, and since we don't know much about
CCD, we don't know how to predict who, when, where, how, or why. 

We may have a sword of Damocles over our heads, but we don't
know which of our heads it hangs over.  Could be mine, 
could be yours, could be that other fellow over there.
Could be that its no longer hanging at all.

I'd rather spend the money, even if to only find that is 
was all nothing but an unlikely combination of events 
that we can charge off to "bad luck".  At least we will
know.  But I think it is a pretty safe bet that the 
number of verified cases witnessed first-hand so far
by multiple skilled people at the same time shows that 
it can't be mere "bad luck".

So, it could be you that "is taught a lesson" about the 
perils of not supporting well-funded science for our 
little corner of agriculture, and listening with care to 
what the researchers and extension people say.

Many who came before you learned that lesson too late.

Beekeepers were slow to react to tracheal mites when they
started infesting colonies.  It wasn't until large numbers
of hives started dying that anyone took the problem seriously.

Same thing happened with varroa.  Complacency killed many
hives, and beekeepers learned "the hard way".

We still haven't learned about Nosema as a group.  The bulk 
of us still pretend that it does not exist.  This is a joke,
given that the bulk of us are found to have nosema in our 
operations every time someone does some sampling.

Same thing with EVERY problem we've ever had in beekeeping - 
we wait until we are lying in a ditch bleeding from a cracked 
skull to ask about the suggested interval for replacing
the brake pads on our bikes, and of course we would never 
wear helmets, as they are for sissies.

So, if history is any guide, I can quote Bogart in 
"Casablanca" about the perils of not taking such 
things seriously as early as possible:

"You'll regret it. Maybe not today. 
Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and 
for the rest of your life."

So, all together now, what's the price of honey?

The price of honey is Eternal Vigilance!

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