Honey bees identified as stock animals seems very fitting, they are
commerce, raised for pollination service and a honey crop, transported in
mass like other stock.

 

There are probably "natural chicken farmers" also, but we don't permit their
stock to graze on preserves or especially natural areas. 

 

Peter, I respect your wisdom and publications and I personally delight in
the thought that "beekeeping is the poetry of agriculture". The mystery in
it is dazzling and addictive. I have 20+ hives, conduct personal research,
microscope workshops with EAS,  and manage 6 client beeyards. I am not
disparaging beekeeping. 

 But I also want to respect the agricultural identity to beekeepers, amateur
or commercial. We should consider that beekeepers might be considered rude,
at the very least, to professional naturalists and their community of
followers, if we nudge a crowd of non-natives w with viruses, compete for
nourishment and have indiscriminant pollination habits - onto preserved
native land.  

 

We beekeepers have plenty of other resource forage alternatives with crops
and suburbia. Out of courtesy, we should let the naturalist who have our
cultural heritage at heart,  pursue their very respected husbandry goals of
preserving native species on appropriate tiny portions of protected
real-estate.

 

Respectfully,

 

Don Coats


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