>
> since I was the one starting the thread on another site, here is a link to
> the thread if you would like to read it.
> it starts out about the committee and ends up discussing the ESHPA
> participation.  I was waiting on this thread for Aaron Morris to comment as
> past president or Peter Borst as current vice president.
>
>
> http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?291173-new-york-apiary-industry-advisory-committee
>
> 

I've been reluctant to jump in on this thread.  As past president of ESHPA,
anything I write might be construed as sour grapes.  Further, I will not
participate on Beesource and was not aware of the discussions that have
been ongoing since last November, until a few days ago when the link Mike
posted was sent to me in personal correspondence.   The topics of
discussion in that thread are so numerous it would take days for me to
compose coherent, civil responses.


Where to start?  I guess alphabetically, with the AIAC (Apiary Industry
Advisory Committee).  It was Governor Pataki who killed the NYS Apiary
Inspection Program (hereafter AIP) early on in his first term (circa 1995).
In response, a group of beekeepers lobbied to have the AIP reinstated (I
was part of that group).  Efforts to resurrect the AIP were successful, but
the legislators wanted a committee formed to advise the Commissioner of
Agriculture on beekeeping issues.  The AIAC was formed.  Configuration and
purpose of the AIAC can be reviewed at
http://eshpa.org/index.php/ny-apiary-laws#section169d or
http://tinyurl.com/ksjc3w2


The initial appointments to the AIAC were made by the President of the
Empire State Honey Producers Association (Jim Doan, of
TIME<http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2149141,00.html>Magazine
fame at the time).
The two commercial slots were filled by commercial beekeepers, the two
part-time (sideliner) slots were filled by commercial beekeepers, and the
two hobbyist slots were filled by sideliners, so hobbyists were cut out
from the get-go.  My first association with ESHPA was to join, introduce
myself around, and offer my services as a hobbyist representative on the
AIAC.  I was shocked, SHOCK|ED I tell you to discover there were politics
in beekeeping.  So young, so naive.


No one thought at the time that the AIAC was an unnecessary level of
bureaucracy (why not take advice from the state association?), as the AIAC
offered a perceived end run around a very unpopular Director of  Plant
Division (part of the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets under which
Apiculture falls).  We beekeepers thought the AIAC would provide a direct
line to the Commissioner without having to go through the unpopular
Director, who I will call Bob.  The AIAC met and defined what beekeepers
envisioned the new apiary inspection program to be, including a
recommendation for a State Apiculturist who would have beekeeping
credentials along with administrative skills capable to build and oversee a
robust inspection program.  These recommendations were sent to the
Commissioner, but alas they went through the existing bureaucratic pipeline.
Bob, the unpopular Director, met with the Commissioner and basically said,
"Who are you going to back, a group of rag-tag beekeepers or your Director
of the Plant Division?"  The Commissioner went with the Director, and
rather than delivering the envisioned new, robust inspection program, the
same old inspection program was recreated.  The short of it was the AIAC
was DOA and the defunct AIP rose from the ashes.  This is but the tip of
the iceberg.


A publicly distributed roster of AIAC members can be found in the picture
on page 9 of the ESHPA Fall 2011 at
http://www.eshpa.org/archive/Fall%202011.pdf   With two exceptions through
resignations, the current roster of the AIAC is the same as it was in the
summer of 2011.  The picture is 6 months older than an AIAC term limit.


Believe it or not, it took me over six hours to write this post.  This
would be a good time to review what has been posted and decide what to
respond to next or if to respond at all.


Aaron Morris - thinking beekeepers are political buffoons!

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