I am saddened to hear that opinions exist that some beekeepers give the
impression that they have "something to hide."

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - beekeeping is the practice of
doing the right thing when no one is watching.
The specifics of what's "right" or "best" for the bees, for the honey, or
for the beekeeper is often a point of contention, but despite the
disagreements that may arise, the same over-reaching goal is shared.

The EPA wants to tell us what's "right" for everything from "non-target
species" to "the fate in the environment" for everything from snail darters
to humans.  But they have been bamboozled repeatedly by the makers of
poisons, and on a predictable 10-year lag, they realize over and over again
that those wacky tree-hugging Europeans were right all along.  But they have
yet to adjust the iron sights on their ancient weapons to correct for this.

The FDA wants to tell us what is "right" for food.  So far, they have not
been too far off from dead center target.  Tolerances are tiny, food is
safe, no one dies from eating adulterated food any more, a big improvement
over the late 1800s. 

The EPA and FDA certainly want to keep up with the times, but those of us
with some grey hair don't trust any scheme that would give beekeepers
everything they want, when they want it. We certainly don't want to see
things that are "mostly working pretty well" broken.  The more expertise one
gains, the more one is willing to defer to the expertise of others in
specialties outside one's own.  This is why, for example, both doctors and
most airline flight crews still wear masks.  Doctor's offices also demand
that patients wear masks while in the doctor's office.  Sub crews still
quarantine for 2 weeks before heading out to sea for sailings of classified
lengths.  I wonder what it is that they all know that most others don't seem
to know?  I think they know that other specialists are as dedicated and
serious as they are in their own tiny area of expertise, so they pay
attention and take notes.

One problem we face is that the regulatory scheme as a whole is too complex
for any one human to wrap his head around, so context and perspective are
only possible for small areas unless one gathers a roomful of experts to
compare notes.

I don't know if an elegant solution exists, but I do know that no one person
has a "workable solution" to more than one small part of the whole, and even
then the "unintended consequences" could be far worse than the problem we
are trying to fix, so moving slowly seems wise.

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