I just came back from a meeting of the Seedless Mandarin and Honey 
Bee Coexistence Workgourp, in Sacramento, today. The news is dismal.

If there ever was a time for you to get involved, this is it!
Please make a point of letting CDFA know your opposition to AB771 
before the week's end. It is really urgent!
A word, a line, a letter, anything that will let the State Secretary 
of Agriculture know that you object to the unbelievable move by large 
citrus growers to forbid or reduce access to some areas in the state 
that are most important for the health of honeybees.

Here is a little background:
Citrus growers can generate much greater financial gains by planting 
varieties of mandarin oranges that can produce seedless fruit. So, 
they planted these in large numbers in recent years. Nothing wrong 
here, except that they did this without taking the proper precautions 
to ensure that the fruit be seedless (these are essentially to either 
plant varieties that can spontaneously produce seedless fruit or by 
assuring the presence of buffer zones around these orchards in order 
to prevent cross pollination by compatible pollen from other citrus 
varieties).

When they realized that their fruit contained seeds because honey 
bees foraged on their trees, they asked the state legislature to 
forbid the presence of honeybees within a two-mile radius of any 6 
acre parcel of their orchard. This means potentially banning bees 
from 8,000 acres of land to protect any 6 acre orchard.

At a time when honey bees are suffering from loss of habitat and from 
ensueing malnutrition, among other ailments, this is absolutely 
incredible and unconscionable! And this is contributing to what is 
bound to be one of the greatest environmental crises of our time: 
the loss of pollinators.

Furthermore, if this ruling is allowed to pass, citrus growers will be 
placing the burden of ensuring that they make a greater financial 
profit from their crops onto all the other people that live and work 
around their orchards.

Our legislators should protect the rights and freedom of 
individuals. In this case, they washed their hands of the issue and 
turned the decision over to a workgroup that shows no sign of coming 
to any compromise. So, ultimately the decision will be made by the 
State Secretary of Agriculture. This will be done within just a few 
days.

Of course, citrus growers have the right to plant whatever variety of 
mandarin oranges they want to on their land. But their revenue must 
be generated in a responsible manner. This can be done by netting the 
trees or by strategically placing the orchards, for example. This 
has to be done at their cost.

The rights and freedom of others who live and work around their 
orchards should not be affected. They should still not be prevented 
from having bees on their land. 

Again, please write without delay to the State Secretary of 
Agriculture to say that you oppose AB771. Beekeepers should be 
allowed to have bees in these areas that are crucial to bee health, 
as they have traditionally done for decades

Also, forward this email to as many of your friends as possible.
This is urgent, as the State Secretary of Agriculture will make a 
determination in the next few days.

This is important, as the functioning of our ecosystem, including our 
food supply, depends on honey bees and other pollinators.

Here is the address of the CDFA:

A. G. Kawamura, Secretary
California Department of Food and Agriculture
1220 N Street, Suite A-400
Sacramento, CA 95814


Thank you.
Serge Labesque

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