Inspection program's goal to create hive registry stirs fears of fees,
bee-nappers
By RICK KARLIN, Capitol bureau
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First published: Monday, September 22, 2008 ALBANY --
It's been more than a year since New York's agriculture officials
started rebuilding their bee inspection program after finding it
riddled with conflicts of interest, and after it was stung by an
unemployment insurance scam. But as another honey-making and
pollination season draws to a close, the effort is drawing criticism
from some beekeepers, who view the state's stepped-up efforts to
police them as a major bureaucratic bumble.
So far, only 9 of 38 newly created inspector slots have been filled.
Moreover, beekeepers fear the state's plan to compile a beehive
registry could be a prelude to new fees, or even serve as a roadmap
for thieves.
While talk of ethical conflicts, bee rustlers and bureaucracy may
sound strange to the uninitiated, New York's aging and shrinking
beekeeper population has battled the state for years.
"It's unfortunate when politics and biology mix -- and you have
probably the biggest mess of politics and biology in New York State of
any state that I'm aware of," said Kim Flottum, editor of Bee Culture,
an Ohio-based publication that follows the beekeeping industry
nationwide.
The buzz about bee or apiary inspections dates back more than a year,
after the state Department of Agriculture and Markets -- following the
advice of the state Ethics Commission -- concluded that inspectors
shouldn't own their own hives.
Beekeepers had long complained that some inspectors used their
positions for unfair advantage by ordering the destruction of
competitors' hives and by poaching the best spots to build colonies.
To avoid these conflicts, the state tried to hire inspectors who had
no hives of their own -- only to discover that, other than beekeepers,
there are few people willing to take on the seasonal inspection job,
which involves traveling through woods and farm fields, enduring
stings and physical labor -- all for $16.45 to $20.53 per hour.
"We're talking about a very small universe of people," said Jessica
Chittenden, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Agriculture and
Markets.
Chittenden said only a dozen inspector slots would be filled this year.
The pool of inspectors shrank even more last year when some were
caught collecting unemployment checks when they were working during
the off-season.
Adding to the recent turmoil, though, was the way beekeepers learned
of the new registry.
"There was no real consultation with the industry, none whatsoever,"
said Bob Brachmann, a western New York beekeeper.
While the law has a confidentiality clause, it also calls for signs to
be posted, with the owner's ID number at the hives. Even so, apiarists
like Brachmann worry that those locations may get out.
"There's a long history of stealing bees," said May Berenbaum, a
University of Illinois entomology professor, who explained that
beehives are valued for both their honey and their ability to
pollinate crops. "It's yet another reason that beekeepers aren't
anxious to be 'on the grid.' "
Others fear that inexperienced inspectors may err in identifying
maladies such as mites or American Foulbrood, a spore that has wreaked
havoc since the 1930s.
"I'm a gardener, but nobody comes around from the government and says,
'Yeah, that's blight on your tomatoes,' " said Harry Whitehead, a
commercial apiarist in Allegany County. "The whole thing, from my
perspective, is more empire-building than productive," he added.
Not all beekeepers oppose the new law. The state Farm Bureau supports
it, hoping it may help slow the decline in New York's bee production.
"We've seen a lot of hive dropoffs," said Bureau spokesman Peter Gregg.
State officials estimate there are about 1,600 apiarists, or
beekeepers, in the state, a steep decline from decades ago. About 80
percent are hobbyists.
Nationally, the number of managed hives has fallen from 5 million in
the 1940s to 2.5 million today, according to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture.
New York isn't the only state where inspections have been
controversial. Beekeepers in Ohio took a case to the U.S. Supreme
Court three decades ago, said Flottum, and Arizona abandoned its
inspections a few years back in light of protests.
In California, inspections were turned over to the counties for
similar reasons. But New York's situation is particularly contentious.
"There's some real distrust out there," said Brachmann.
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