> ...mandating apiary registration...
> the apiary inspection program has not always 
> been popular for reasons such as...
> search and seizure without due process...

Just in case anyone gets the impression that NY Beekeepers are either
pointy-headed constitutional scholars or camouflage-garbed survivalists
hand-reloading .308 Winchester rounds while mumbling about "trespass on
their property", let me explain.  

Most beekeepers keep bees in several yards, and own at most one or two of
those yards.  All the other yards are the property of a generous third
party, often a close friend, who allows the bees to be on their land for the
trivial rent of a few gallons of honey a year.  Many of these generous
people own valuable livestock.  The first rule, the most important rule is
"close the gate".  (Why they don't have cattle guards installed, I dunno,
but most don't.)

So, when the state suddenly declares that they have the unconditional right
to send part-time employees unknown to the land owner onto that landowner's
property to inspect the beehives at whim with no notice or advance warning,
what does the rational landowner do?  He tells the beekeeper "sorry, but I
can't take the risk of having your bees here anymore".  No matter how
well-trusted the beekeeper himself, the deal is soured by the potential
appearance of an unknown party at a random time.

The loss of outyards is what the rational beekeeper fears, not the loss of
"privacy".

In an urban setting, the percentage of beekeepers who own their own suitable
roof or backyard is tiny, so the same problem exists. The roof or yard owner
has even more concerns about random people entering on their own whim based
upon a presumption of some dubious "authority" not involving clear life and
death situations, as in police, fire, and EMS. 

Worse yet, access to both roofs and backyards is most often only gained by
going through the private living quarters of most brownstones.  Larger
buildings have staffs, elevators, and fire stairs, but they also have grave
concerns about even the one slightly scruffy-looking beekeeper having
access, so the unannounced appearance of a second would likely doom the
arrangement.  The city fire inspector, the building inspector, and all the
other bureaucrats with vague "rights to inspect" make appointments well in
advance like civilized people.

The NY apiary inspection language was such an overreach of authority in the
pursuit of such a minor goal, it was unique in its breathtaking hubris.
Certainly, Ag & Markets can impose regulations for those who chose to be
"agricultural producers", but the moment those rules imposed demands upon
3rd parties, they became comically grandiose.

From a constitutional standpoint, the social contract does not include being
forced to opens one gate or door to an endless parade of self-important
bureaucrats with tiny concerns of no specific interest to the property
owner.  The health of insects?  Not exactly drug-resistant tuberculosis, is
it?  Even the meter reader has been eliminated by high-tech wireless
gadgetry, so "right of entry" is no longer assumed unless you arrive in a
vehicle with lights and a siren.   

But carry a pizza, and doors swing open without question.  Go figure.

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html