Brian Fredericksen wrote:

>  I predict we have seen nothing yet and that the hokey inspections which go on
> currently for shipping out of state will seem rather mundane in the future when public panic plays
> a more active role in defining laws etc pertaining to honey bees.

I hope you are not referring to the Bee Inspectors who I and may others
know in Maine, Florida and other States. It is a slander to their fine
reputations.

You also managed to color commercial migratory beekeepers with the same
tarred brush.

As I said before, the reaction to AHB is like the reaction to mites and
closed borders, except for those who conducted a rational dialog on how
to manage the problem.

The issue is with some beekeepers who might harbor AHB and know it.
That, also is a manageable problem since they are few in number.

I have seen several instances of beekeepers responding to irresponsible
beekeepers and force them to change their ways. Not one was commercial,
all were hobby beekeepers. I just do not see a commercial beekeeper
trying to kill his business, even though it is possible. I also do not
see our inspectors acting irresponsibly in their inspections of
colonies. But I have met a lot of ignorant hobby beekeepers who were
well meaning but did not know much about their hobby.

As far as the beekeeper being looked on by the public as a problem, just
a little PR would handle that. "Beekeepers are the keepers of the EHB
flame and need to be around so our bees mellow and dilute AHB genetics."
End of issue. That one thing changes us from a problem to a defender of
the public and a necessary addition to the "fight against AHB".

Bill Truesdell
Kabul, Afghanistan

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