Hello Peter & All,
Recommendations and rules are to very different things. Right now in Florida
the State of Florida is trying to inform and help with recommendations to
keep problems from happening.

 Smart beekeepers will try to work within the system. Jerry Hayes is a
reasonable person. Jerry knows the value to agriculture of the honey bee.

The horse which was killed by stings in Florida was too close to the hives
which were almost all africanized.  So were the pets killed.

Locations need to be chosen wisely. Locations close to many cities could be
outlawed under later phases. Public nuisance trumps the "beekeeping
grandfather clause".

Law suits could become a reality. The Florida apiary inspection service
might be called as expert witness for the prosecution. Beekeepers might have
trouble getting insurance.

In my opinion an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

 If the hobby beekeeper does his job and keeps his hive AHB free they have
little to worry about. If he/she does not keep check on the hive at the back
of their acre lot and the bees sting the old gentleman to death next door
then you might end up homeless from a lawsuit.

Most hobby beekeepers do not carry beekeeping insurance and homeowner limits
might not be high enough for a serious problem.
 Might not even cover the problem. I would ask my agent if I lived in south
Florida and was a hobby beekeeper.

I value my commercial beekeeping insurance. Without the beekeeping business
insurance I doubt I would keep bees in an area of AHB.

My corporate status also protects my assets. Not hard to do. I did all the
paperwork myself years ago.

The largest beekeeper in the state of Florida several years ago lost his
insurance over  an employee death. The beekeeper said the death was from
heat stroke and not stings. The hospital said the death was from stings.
The beekeeper was able to get insurance (from another company)and went back
in business.

Every location needs to be looked at on its own merit. Commercial beekeepers
need to use common sense. Not to wait for the State of Florida to make you
stop using a location too close to people. Avoid the stinging incidents and
the complaints is the best policy for all areas.

I have got over 200 hives in my back yard. Bell Hill Honey has a couple
hundred in his back yard. Houses within 300 feet of both our operations.
Within the next few weeks these will be moved out on to locations but we
have never had a problem with neighbors over the bees. Not one. I  believe
if we had AHB genetics in our bees stinging would be a problem.

If I thought for a minute the hives were a danger to my neighbors (long time
friends) I would not keep a single hive on the place nor would Bell Hill. We
have got remote locations over several counties but home is convenient for
new hives with new queens.

Neighbor problems have happened with the rock quarry holding yard of Bell
Hill Honey when more than one semi load of bees are in the yard at a time.
Bell Hill Honey moved the bees a couple hundred feet further into the quarry
and the problems stopped.

Understanding neighbors are better than distance in my opinion. A single
neighbor on a crusade to rid the area of a bee hive can be a problem no
matter the distance.

Sincerely,
Bob Harrison

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