a couple of randy Oliver snips followed by > my comments...
 
I presented first to our County's Agricultural Advisory Commission, which
was composed mostly of large ranchers/growers/landowners.  Before I got my
second sentence out, one said "this is a perfect example of the Tragedy of
the Commons."  At that point I knew that our proposal would be a soft sell.

We have the full support of the ag community, the hobby beekeepers, our Ag
Commissioner, and us commercial beekeepers.  Our goal is to come up with
self-imposed restrictions on commercial apiary spacing and hive numbers per
yard.  This is for the purpose of providing for the sustainability of hobby
and commercial beekeeping for the residents of our county, including any
out-of-county beekeepers who follow our rules--they are not singled out.

>I suspect we shall soon see the same kind of problem arise in North Dakota.  Basically too many folks from out of state willy nilly placing hives where ever they want and no regards to the locals who pay for the roads and schools.  Over time the problem will spread to Texas (and in some places down around the coast this already is a problem)...

>Secondly we also have a problem here with folks who 'jump the fence' and bring bees in from everywhere without inspection (and as a general rule dodging the ag weight stations). I would guess that this is NOT a problem they have so much in California???

>I am not certain what 'self-imposed restrictions' is suppose to mean but I do hope you have a good lawyer on board to make certain you efforts are legal. I would ask if these restriction are self imposed how do you propose to enforce these rules? Do make us a model we ALL can potentially use in the future.

>From the bee apocalypse (not that long ago) to the evidence that the bee supply function may be extremely elastic in the intermediate time line seems to be the issue that is playing out here..

Gene in Central Texas...      

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