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From:
James Fischer <[log in to unmask]>
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Date:
Mon, 11 Feb 2002 21:41:21 -0500
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Lloyd Spear said:

> ...as far as government is concerned "less is better".
> And, we all presumably agree that there is massive waste
> and inefficiency in government programs, until it is "our"
> ox that is gored.  Is that right?

Not a fair characterization at all.

Quick, name something else in agriculture that is now
under "attack" from as many different pest and diseases
as bees are now.

...stumped?  Well, there's your answer.  None.

You mentioned someone's "ox being gored".  Funny you
should mention oxen.  Realize that if cattle or diary farmers
started losing up to half their herds each year to diseases
and pests, it would be a "national emergency".

In fact, for ANY group of farmers to take the sort of losses
beekeepers have suffered would be a "national emergency".

Here's an example of what elected officials can do when they
understand that a disease or pest threatens an industry...

  Orange growers in Florida had a problem with "citrus canker".
  The government simply suspended the US Constitution in Florida
  (the minor detail in the 4th Amendment about "search and seizure")
  and has government employees trespassing on private property
  at whim, and cutting down and burning EVERY citrus tree
  in South Florida, sick or healthy, that is within 1900 feet of
  any tree that is even suspected of being "infected".  Anyone
  who attempts to stop them, perhaps to point out that their trees
  are healthy and inspected/treated by professionals is arrested
  and jailed.

  Is citrus canker a disease that kills orange trees?  No,
  it merely blemishes the fruit, most of which becomes
  juice anyway.

  How do I know this?  I still own a few houses in Ft. Lauderdale
  left over from the days when I was played Monopoly with
  real houses and money.  They all had nice big citrus trees
  that were looked after by well-paid pros.  "Had" is the
  operative word.  Not any more.

> Personally, Jim's perspectives have led me to believe that the
> federal government should significantly reduce spending on
> agricultural programs and subsidies, but not reduce the amounts
> spent on honeybee research.

I cannot comment on subsidies, as I cannot claim to
understand even the basic theory behind them.

  Laplace transforms?  Child's play.
  Superstring theory?   Sure.
  Quantum Chromodynamics?  Easy!
  Agricultural Subsidies?  Sorry, too tough for me.

But one need not reduce spending on other programs to
keep the bee labs working - the amount required is the
sort of money that the federal government spends on
paperclips.  To be honest, there are lots of places the
USDA can scrape up a mere $4.6 million dollars in a
$74.4 BILLION dollar budget.

If money must be shuffled around, the "perspective" is
nothing more than expecting resources to be focused on
problems.

Bees are agricultural "leverage" - tiny, cheap, but mission
critical to the bigger picture.  If you have limited money,
who do you send to the doctor?  The sick one, or the
one that is not sick?

If we had nothing more than AFB and tracheal mites to
deal with, I might agree that some belt-tightening was
appropriate.

But this is not belt-tightening, this is amputation.
It is amputation of the brains of the industry, just
when we need them most.

        jim

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