[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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