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Subject:
From:
'Pat Henderson' <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 26 Feb 2002 15:17:18 EST
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NEW JERSEY BEEKEEPER’S ASSOCIATION
Pat Henderson ~ Secretary/Treasurer
62 Fernview Road
Morris Plains, NJ 07950-1539
973/644-9024 (Phone & Fax)
[log in to unmask]


February 26, 2002

House and Senate Appropriations Committee
Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and
Drug Administration, and Related Agencies

Dear House and Senate Members:

On behalf of the New Jersey Beekeepers, MAAREC (Mid-Atlantic Apiculture
Research and Extension Consortium for Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, West
Virginia, and New Jersey), and all the farmers influenced by honeybees, we
protest the proposed cuts in United States Department of Agriculture -
Agricultural Research Services (USDA-ARS) Honeybee Research in the
President's 2003 budget.  We strongly urge you to restore these proposed
reductions in funds, infrastructure and personnel immediately.  Failure to
restore the current level of funding will have disastrous consequences for
honeybee research, the beekeeping industry, all of pollination-dependent
agricultural industry, and the food consumer. The direct benefit of honeybee
pollination to major agricultural crops has been valued at more than $14
billion annually.

The proposed total base program reductions, though partially offset by
increased spending for new programs, total only $15 million, and yet honeybee
research suffers 20% of total base program reductions.  This reduction seems
inequitable for a research program that comprises ~.057% of the ARS budget.
Maybe on the surface it would make sense to cut the honeybee research
laboratories from 4 to 1; on the assumption the 4 laboratories performed
duplicate functions.  This is far from true.  Each facility focuses on
different elements within the honeybee species.  Honeybee behavior varies
greatly by climate and research conducted at one location is not necessarily
applicable to another.

Most importantly, USDA-ARS Weslaco is located in an area colonized by
Africanized honeybees (AHB).  While it is imperative to have a bee research
station in an Africanized area to study this important model of invasive
species colonization and resultant impact, the presence of AHB in Weslaco
makes other important ARS research impossible to conduct in Weslaco,
precisely because it is an Africanized area.

 Please intervene on behalf of our industry, the pollination-dependent
agricultural industry, and the food consumer to restore the proposed cuts in
honeybee research.  Exotic parasitic mites, Africanized bees, and other new
pests and pathogens pose a serious threat to the viability and productivity
of honeybees, the plants they pollinate and all those that depend, directly
or indirectly, upon bees and the products and services they provide.
Substantial economic harm will be imposed upon everyone if these proposed
reductions are implemented.


Respectfully,



Pat Henderson
Chairman, New Jersey Beekeepers Research Committee
Chairman, MAAREC

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