Most of this discussion on the proposed ordinance seems to focus on, a) the rights of beekeepers, either small and local, or large and migratory, or, b) the highest and best use of the land in question, as in can you make money with bees there.

I would like to suggest that the ordinance preventing migratory bees would be appropriate even if there were no small beekeepers in the area.

Given the diverse surviving genetics of the feral bees found so far, and the reasonable expectation that the micro ecology of the feral colonies is different from the average well-traveled, medicated, increasingly homogeneous American bee, might it not be worth protecting those feral bees just for the sake of genetic diversity and what we might learn?

Southern Utah is a large, unique, harsh, isolated and beautiful geographic area. It seems that geographical uniqueness has played a role in allowing diverse populations of feral honey bees to survive.

While the nature of SE Utah would not seem to be an appropriate place for large numbers of commercial hives, recent events (and some of this discussion) show that creative minds will never stop looking for opportunities to make an extra buck. Must the fate of all places/ecosystems be left to the free market?

The ordinance has nothing to do with excluding the importation or exportation of bee stock, which would continue in order to prevent inbreeding And I don’t expect that interaction between humans and these feral bees will end.  But I think the question of the scale of impact is worth considering.

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