Relative to recent discussions on inspections and such, perhaps the  
readers of Bee-L would be interested in the contents of a letter that  
I (and presumably all registered beekeepers in Minnesota) received  
this week.

"The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) has recently been  
informed that there is interest in the repeal of the Apiary Law,  
Minnesota Statutes Chapter 19 (2005).  If you are in support of the  
repeal of this statute (elimination of the state program), or in  
favor of keeping the statute (retaining the state program), please  
indicate your opinion by checking off the appropriate box and  
returning the enclosed postage-paid post card by February 17, 2006.

In a September 2005 meeting with apiary representatives, we were  
informed that the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Honey producers  
Association (MHPA) had previously voted to seek repeal of the apiary  
statute.  In addition, we were informed by MHPA, that the Apiary  
Advisory Committee is in support of this position."

This is an exact quote of the first two paragraphs of the letter.  It  
continues with a brief review of the statute and the statement, "MDA  
is interested in ascertaining that an apiary law repeal is an  
initiative of the industry as a whole."

The only comment I'll make right now is that I find it amusing that  
they've "recently been informed" of a "September 2005 meeting".

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