George Imirie's PINK PAGES
Important Events
On November 19th and 20th, the U. S. Department of Agriculture Division of
ARS, Agricultural Research Service hosted a "special" meeting at the
Holiday Inn in College Park, MD. Its purpose was for the scientists of ARS to
hear from representatives of ALL SEGMENTS of our honey bee industry of just what
our needs are in the promotion of crop pollination. There were 30 speakers
representing almost every phase of beekeeping, including honey producers,
pollinators, queen breeders, package bee suppliers, the farm bureau,
researchers, and scientists. The American Beekeepers Federation whose members
are "on the front line" of bee problems was well represented by their
outgoing and incoming Presidents plus Executive Director, Troy Fore. Because of
intertwining of crop pollination with honey production, the talks covered many
phases of the bee industry including our problems with disease, pests, honey
adulteration, imported honey prices, queen and bee shipping problems, arbitrary
state laws, etc.
I was there as an invited guest as was my bee partner, Ann Harman, and I
assume we were asked because of my long scientific interest in honey bees and
research and Ann's long interest in the betterment of beekeeping through EAS,
which she serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. I felt quite
honored to be included with this wild array of eminent beekeepers and highly
skilled professional scientists.
The afternoon session was broken down into participation in one of three
different critical issue groups to determine those points that were deemed most
critical and hence urgently needed scientific help. Those three groups were:
- Bee Management
- Pollination
- Pest Management
Because of my long work in trying to upgrade beekeeper's knowledge about good
management and proper techniques, I became part of the Bee Management group
where I was able to make the point that perhaps our major problem today is queen
improvement in the face of lack of quality drones. After much discussion and
overnight thought, the next day my points regarding queens was selected as the
Number One critical issue, and I was humbled.
The most important feeling I had of the entire meeting was that ALL attendees
were not there for fun or to be seen, but were there with a purpose. I left with
a feeling that the scientists had TRULY listened to the needs of beekeeping, and
our government might give us some positive help in the future!
George Imirie
Certified EAS Master Beekeeper
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