Bill adds bees to list of public nuisances
By: Djamila Grossman

PHOENIX, AZ

Last week, Gov. Janet Napolitano signed into law a bill that adds wild
honeybees to the list of public nuisances because they endanger public
health.

This means county officials can order a property owner to have a bee
swarm removed at the owner's cost. If the bee swarm is located on
public lands, the county will pay for the exterminator. No county
currently has the authority to enforce wild bee removal.

All wild bees are considered Africanized, which means they are more
defensive and therefore more likely to attack than European bees.

"This is a threat to human safety, and if there are hives and no one
has the authority to remove them, someone walking down the street
could be attacked," said sponsor Rep. Jennifer Burns, R-Tucson. "We
have been infiltrated with Africanized bees."

"Once they start attacking, they all will attack," Krueger said.
"They're one of the only venomous animals in the state of Arizona that
are aggressive."

Burns said that while she seeks to protect the public with her bill,
she also wants to make sure the measure would not harm any of the
roughly 300 beekeepers in the state. That's why it only applies to
colonies that are not maintained by a beekeeper.

The Arizona Department of Agriculture worked with several beekeepers
to make sure they don't have concerns about the bill, said Ed Hermes,
spokesman for the Arizona Department of Agriculture.

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