Director's Corner

Working Together for the Greater Good

Impossible! They will never work with us. You can’t trust them! We will always be enemies.

Those words echoed in my mind as I sat at a meeting of Virginia beekeepers, government regulators, and various industry representatives, including yours truly. Naysayers were wrong. Beekeepers in the room accepted industry’s role in protecting pollinators. They also expressed interest in collaborating with us on issues that arise. That partnership will be extremely valuable when, as predicted, well-meaning members of the General Assembly introduce anti-industry legislation falsely believed to protect pollinators.

Fortunately, reasonableness and sanity prevailed over the naysayers. Over the past ten months we developed very positive and fruitful relationships with powerful environmental groups. Together we are accomplishing great things and representing our industry in a positive light. Remember, these environmental groups have contacts and friends at every level of government. Politicians and regulators from city halls across the state to the halls of the General Assembly listen to them.

Working together for the greater good is always good. Fortunately, we have found beekeepers, environmental groups, and others willing to put aside name calling, divisiveness, and segmentation. We are moving forward together. The industry benefits!

Tom Tracy, Ph.D.

VTC Executive Director