From: Bob Harrison <[log in to unmask]>

> Glad to hear from you Barry.

Hi Bob -

Decided to get off my hands and enter into the discussion on this one.

> Dee pushed and changed the inspection law in Arizona. Why?

I know she has told me the background on this but she will have to explain
so it gets told correctly.

> All Arizona beekeepers did not want the inspections dropped. Blane works for
> the USDA and was involved.

Then perhaps Blaine could share what he knows about it so we get a broader
understanding.

> I told Dee two years ago in a post that most of us are content to wait for
> the USDA to breed a varroa tolerant bee. We now have SMR and Russian queens.
> Give the varroa tolerant  breeder queens from the USDA to the queen
> breeders. Then the hobby beekeeper  simply buys a couple SMR or Russian
> queens from his queen breeder and installs and the varroa problem is over.
> What could be simpler.

I don't believe simplicity has anything to do with this discussion. I'm not
here to bang the 4.9 drum or to put down other approaches to the varroa fix.
Yes, SMR is another alternative, but has yet to be tested in the fire of
life like the Lusby's have done with 4.9, IMO.

> I have never moved bees in or out of Arizona.

I was referring to the movement of your bees to Texas where ahb is all
around also.

> I have never
> moved bees in or out of a AHB quarentine area of Texas.

No, but next to them. And we all know bees do not respect lines that are
drawn on a map.

> In all fairness
> to Barry there are plenty of bees moved without permits. I suspect even in
> and out of Arizona.

Well, this is the reality of life I'm trying to make a point about. People
talk of major problems happening should bees from one area get out and into
other areas. THEY ALREADY DO! Where are the problems that are so fearfully
talked about? Let's be realistic here.

In my line of work, the governing agencies expect you to have/get a permit
to do a very wide range of work so they can "protect" the consumer against
bad workmanship. Yea right! Don't get me going on this one. I've got 23
years of firsthand experience seeing what permits and inspections do to
protect the consumer. The result keeps me well employed.

Tell me what is going to happen should the Lusby's ship bees to another
state and that states inspector can't tell whether or not they are ahb's? By
what guide will he make his determination whether they are or not? If he
simply says they are because they came from Arizona, this has proved
nothing. Too many holes in the system to be much good in my opinion.

> All Blane and I have done is tell the list what the LAW is. I can not stop
> people from breaking the law. Are you advocating bee movement breaking laws?

I think I addressed this in my reply to Bill. I'm advocating that this issue
needs to be looked at deeper and not simply write it off as a given or hype
it up. There may be laws in place, but it is the interpretation of those
laws where it gets a lot more cloudy.

Regards,
Barry, getting ready to sit on my hands again.