>> 2. Bee inspectors are not public health officials, or anything
remotely similar.

> Au contraire! At least in Virginia. The Code of Virginia is very clear
on the point.

Hmmm.  Well, I was a bee inspector, and when I was, I was not --
AFAIK -- a public health official, although, I suppose I was an animal
health official.  There is a distinction, I think, and maybe some of the
considerable number of State and Provincial Apiarists who read this list
and hire and fire bee inspectors may want to weigh in here.  Or -- come
to think of it -- maybe not.  At any rate, human health concerns were
not the slightest part of my mandate at the time.

AFAIK, there is usually a considerable distinction between 'animal
health', and 'public health' inspection and enforcement, although there
is an overlap.  This overlap occurs where animals may exhibit serious
diseases which can also affect humans.  Undulant fever, tuberculosis,
and, oh yes --  almost forgot -- BSE, are such diseases.  On the other
hand, insect diseases like AFB, nosema, chalkbrood, etc. are not shared
with humans, and are not regarded with quite the same sense of urgency.

Nonetheless, in Alberta, bee inspection services do have the full force
of law behind them, and -- if you believe the letter of the law as
written -- some draconian powers.  Nonetheless, in action, enforcement
is somewhat like foreclosure on a mortgage.  If you believe literally
the wording of your mortgage papers, you'll think that the banker can
walk in at any moment if you make the tiniest slip, and throw you and
your possessions onto the street without a second chance, or any
recourse.  In the real world, that isn't going to happen -- not here
anyhow.  There are too many other legal forces arrayed against such
precipitous action, and usually the process leading to eventual eviction
is long, and full of protections for both parties.

I suspect the exact status of bee inspectors varies from jurisdiction to
jurisdiction, and that in most places bee inspection has little, if
anything, to do with public health.  The advent of AHB and the panic
that has accompanied it in some places may have changed this locally,
and I'd be interested to hear some of the subtleties in local Bee Acts.
As Dee said, they abolished bee inspectors in Arizona.  In other places,
they have chosen to keep a few inspectors and legal powers for use in
emergencies, but in some others, bee inspection personel and their
viewpoints dominate beekeepers.

I wonder into what category New York falls?

allen
http://www.honeybeeworld.com
Diary of a former beekeeper

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