[ocba] Beneficial Insect Lab
Lewis Cauble
lewis at hivebody.com
Mon Apr 13 20:56:36 EDT 2009
Hello Beekeepers,
As I mentioned at the meeting on Thursday, our Beneficial Insect Lab
may be on the chopping block because of a budget crunch.
I spoke with my representative, Bill Faison, at a church breakfast on
Saturday morning. I tried to explain to him how important our lab is
to NC Ag and beekeepers. He spent a good long time explaining to me
how dire the budget is looking these days. I'm afraid Bill did a
better job of making his case then I did, but he is a lawyer by
trade. At any rate, I don't think he had ever heard of a Beneficial
Insect Lab before. Bill is a member of the NCSBA through the Caswell
County club. Bill's grandfather (or great grandfather) was a founding
member of the NCSBA. Bill does not currently have any hives, but
hopes to have some when his life calms down.
Please take a moment to write to your local representative and tell
them how you feel about the Beneficial Insect Lab. To find out who
represents you, please stop by this link. http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/GIS/RandR07/Representation.html
Go to the bottom of the page and enter your 9 digit zip code. It will
tell you what you need to know.
Most importantly, please send a note to Ag Commissioner Steve Troxler
and ask him to please spare any cuts to the lab.
Important work of the lab includes:
-AHB identification and diagnosis through morphometric analyses, the
only official system for doing so in the state
-AFB fumigation of equipment using ethylene oxide
-Microbiological growth and identification of AFB, EFB, and other
pathogens
-Nosema bioassays and quantification
-Thoracic dissections to detect and quantify tracheal mites
-The quarantine facility was critical in conducting early research on
SHB; should a new emerging pest (such as Tropilaelaps mites) be
introduced, having access to such a facility will be critical
Use this form to contact NCDA&CS http://www.agr.state.nc.us/htm/contactus.htm
The NCSBA has a legislative committee working on this issue, but I do
not know the status of their efforts. If you are an NCSBA member,
please take a moment to write to President Greg Clemments and ask him
how that effort is going.
Cheers,
Lewis
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