About The Speedy bee. (Jesup, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (March 22, 2002)
The Foreword By Troy H. Fore, Jr. SB Apr,20033 19940 Main Periodicals UnivesityofGA Libraries GeorgiaRoom Athens GA 30602 2S v The Speedy Bee • 30 Years / 1972 - 2002 THE SPEEDY BEE Volume 31, Number 1 March 22, 2002 Jesup, Georgia 31598 USA NEWS BULLETIN Single Copy: $1.75 HONEY BOARD GETS THE VOTE NHB Referendum Passes: 51.47% of Voters; 50.77% of Honey Results Announced Mar. 18 — Full Report and Analysis in Next Issue Editor and Publisher Do you see the irony in the juxtaposition of the Honey Board ► referendum and the problems that have cropped up with Chinese honey? As we were having perhaps our most serious challenge to honey purity — certainly the most serious challenge in several years — we were voting on whether to pull the plug on our most effective (only really effective?) mechanism to deal with such challenges. If this situation had arisen a couple of months earlier, the value of the Honey Board to the industry may have been unquestioned. I am hopeful that the situation with the Chinese honey will simply fade away. If it doesn't, and if the Honey Board is voted out of ex istence, I am hopeful that the shutdown will be gradual enough that the NHB specialists will be able to bail us out this one last time. (NOTE: This was written before the NHB referendum results were out. It appears we will have the Honey Board working for us a while yet; at least, pending the legal challenge by the AHPA.) ++++++ On the subject of the Honey Board, NHB Chairman Gene Brandi took me to task over a recent statement in this column. I wrote: "The work of the Honey Board has not resulted in great in creases in the per capita consumption of honey. According to USDA figures the consumption is still approximately 1-lb. per per son, as it has been for years." My statement set Mr. Brandi and NHB staffers to work to document that the consumption had, indeed, increased, as they had been saying. You can read their calculations on Page 3. If you voted against the Honey Board based on my statement, I apologize to you, the NHB, and the industry. For the record, I based my statement on a report from the USDA's Economic Re search Service. Maybe everyone at USDA should consult the same data. + + + + + + One dataset that I have given up on is the calendar. I'll tell you two things about our publishing schedule: First, you will get 12 is sues for your 12-issue subscription payment. Second, each issue we publish has the latest industry news in it. To clarify that the paper you get is the latest out, we are drop ping our "monthly issue date" for now and dating the paper by the mail date. Thus, this issue is Issue 1 - March 22, 2002. It is our hope to get the 12th issue of 2002 to you in December 2002! (more on Page 14) Honey Back in the Farm Bill A House-Senate Conference Committee is ironing out the dif ferences between the House ver sion of the 2002 Farm Bill, passed last fall, and the version that cleared the Senate on Feb. 13. Congressional leaders an nounced on Mar. 19 that they had made substantial progress in the conference. They hope final ac tion will come by mid-April. The good news for beekeepers is that both bills contain provi sions to restore the honey loan program; so, it is nearly certain that federal farm policy will once again include a honey program. The program provisions are about the same as what was in place for 1999-crop and 2000- crop honey. The main difference is that the loan rate is set at 60 cents in both bills. The producer organizations are trying to get the loan rate boosted to 65 cents in the conference committee. An industry delegation was in Washington at the end of Febru ary to work on the issue. This will be the first perma nent honey program since the program was killed in 1993. Pat Heitkam, president of the American Beekeeping Federa tion, said the industry should be (more on Page 14). Honey Prices Jump During Early March The U.S. honey market has seen major changes in white honey prices during March. For several months, white honey was moving in the 70- 75 cents range, but demand was weak. Demand strength ened in the first week of March, followed by a 5-cent price increase during the sec ond week. By the third week, the range was high 80s to 90 cents. President's Budget Proposes to Close Beltsville, Baton Rouge, Tucson Labs The budget, released by the Bush Administration on Feb. 4, proposes that three of the four USDA-ARS Bee Labs be closed by Sept. 30, 2002. Under the Bush plan, the labs in Beltsville, Md.; Baton Rouge, La.; and Tuc son, Ariz., would close. Funding associated with just one scientist from each of those labs would be transferred to Weslaco, Texas, which would be the sole site of federal honey bee research. The budget would slash the authorized research scientist po sitions from 21 to 9, and would eliminate more than 50% of the funding, leaving only $2.5 mil lion rather than the current $5.7 million. "Please intervene on behalf of our industry, pollination depend ent agriculture, the ecosystem, and the food consumer to restore the proposed cuts in honey bee research," wrote ABF President Pat Heitkam and Research Chairman Danny Weaver in a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman. "Exotic parasitic mites, Africanized bees, and other new pests and pathogens pose a serious threat to the vi ability and productivity of honey (more on Page 5) ARS Proposal by the Numbers 21 9 15 3.25 0.57 20 Charting the Effect of the Proposed Cuts on Federal Honey Bee Research Current Scientists Positions Positions Proposed for Elimination Million $ of ARS Cuts Proposed Million $ Honey Bee Research Cuts Proposed Honey Bee Research $ as % of ARS 2002 Budget Honey Bee Research Cuts as % of Total ARS Cuts
