I finished up my monthly rant.
I fully support localized queens, micro-breeders, and more beekeeper raising their own queens. I think the art of queen rearing has been lost over the years. And we should be promoting more self sufficient beekeeping practices. So it is with particular interest that I wrote up my recent thoughts.
I do not want to be a conspiracy type nut job. But somewhere deep inside my head, little read flags keep popping up. I do not like certification, authority from academia types, and government control. So I am not sure where this will lead or take us, but I am naturally skeptical.
Tell me what you think. Here is the last entry.
http://www.bjornapiaries.net/beekeeperramblings.html (http://www.bjornapiaries.net/beekeeperramblings.html)
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your rants are always quite curious to this cat.
a Bjorn snip:
Why is not the business model of free trade not allowed to thrive?
tecumseh:
perhaps if you could define this for me that would represent some progress? I suspect the term is more a nicely composed sound bit than anything replicable in the real world. I suspect most folks who use such meaningless terms really could not even compose a list of those things required to make such a system work. The list does not begin with government regulation... that would come at the tail end of the list.
as to why there are few northern queen breeders perhaps a short read in a very old economic text on 'competitive advantage' might yield some insight. very old economic text in that I am told that this subject is not longer taught in economics class.
BjornBee,
Your rate your rant 9/10.
I admire folks who go against the grain of the "Establishment". Please continue on your path because you know what works for you and your area, keep blazing trails for others to follow, maybe someday you will be the "Establishment" of Sustainable Beekeeping. :-D
I just finished reading several months worth of rants. I especially like the 'No-till' one myself. I have often thought the same thing. Farmers now have at their disposal, any number of 'Round-Up Ready' crops such as corn, soybeans, etc. Sure, its saving the waterways from excessive erosion, but how much of the chemical is being dumped into our natural water systems down below. I would be nauseous if I found just one of my hives a deadout, much less 13. Good rant.
Thank you Hardwood and Beehopper.
VK9 - Glad you liked the articles.
This no till thing around here is based on much with the Penn State extension service, the Chesapeake bay foundation, and a few other organizations. A farmer can't sneeze around here without getting snot on a Penn State extension employee. They have their hand in the farmers pocket, while the farmer has his head up their butts.
But if we wait long enough, no till will be found to be causing a problem, a commission will be setup, funding for the extension offices will be forthcoming, years will be spent doing studies, and we just keep running in circles.
The problem is that it will take years of frogs, bees, butterflies, bats, and other harmful effects to trump the clean water folks and their money. Two bad that they are single source problem solving group. But I guess if you solve more than one problem at a time, you lose possible funding on two problems instead of getting it for one. :roll:
I tend to agree with you, partly because they are insects and kind of fringy, creepy, and odd to legislators - so are easy prey to someone who has connections and wants to write some legal specs to make their queen business come out on top.
The other side of that coin is that they can be looked at as "just another" form of livestock, this area is kind of thin ice to me because I've never had anything more livestock-y than some chickens but I think the overall idea is similar - there are certified strains of cattle, goats, and any number of 4 legged furry things, with the "top" strains being the most desireable - and shocking amounts of money to breed them, and there are mutt strains - a goat of some unscrupulous pedigree gained at about $20 for just-weaned.
(and as for bees the laisez faire approach vs. all but clean room and DNA mapping/splicing as 2 extremes)
I guess the bottom line is vigilance within the community - even though if a general vote on declaring all "unknown origin/pedigree" honey bees being declared de-facto AHB were held among the public today - we would get a pasting - I imagine all of my hives would be shut down, even being vouched for by the keeper I bought them from - no papers.
Bee Happy...very smart.
The "dots" of possible connection is many.
"Best Beekeeper Practices", connected with certified operations on a national scale, some very well timed AHB hysteria, and a few select individuals or a single organization with total control and money motives, and you can kiss goodbye many small beekeepers. This could come about from force, or pricing any hobbyist/small queen breeder right out of the industry.
What would seem from the start as national system for breed certification, could easily be followed with the requirement of buying from only a slim list of "approved" breeders. Not just in AHB areas, but all across the country. You know...for safety sake.
When you have multiple dots (programs or problems) hanging out there, connecting them for motives such as control and profit, is easily accomplished when nobody is looking. It usually happens when nobody has control of their own destiny any longer, from earlier plans of "helping" with one thing or another. Registration, certification, and central control by a few, makes many things possible.
Broad pictures. That is what we need to be aware of.
The direction of this country was, until recently (Nov 2nd), for all government agencies and institutions to grow as big as they could in four years. To start as many new programs and hire as many friends as they could. This certification program that you wrote about was part of that process.