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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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Subject:
From:
Jerry Bromenshenk <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 5 Apr 2020 17:18:23 +0000
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Essential Service rules vary by state.  We've still got states that refuse to issue Stay-At-Home orders.  Production beekeeping is clearly an essential business, part of agriculture.  Similarly, bee equipment supply companies are considered essential businesses. 

The concern with selling nucs and packages is not the selling of them, it's the physical distancing issues that are of concern, the 10 person limits on gatherings.
That's why Walmart announced two new policies:  (1) The number of people per area of floor space will be limited, and (2) Markings, arrows, etc. will be put in place to keep people spaced apart and moving in controlled patterns - no mingling and criss-crossing around the store.
This will be my first year of not distributing packages - I'm in self-imposed isolation due to being in high mortality risk age group.
If I were distributing packages or nucs, I'd consider:
Spreading your customers out throughout the day - assign pickup times.  Use an open field with plenty of room for parking.    Place orange cones or survey flags at 6-9 ft spacings.  Have customers spaced out and lined up in a clearly marked line or lines at designated spacings.   If you've got the space, you might consider having everyone stay in their vehicles, use the drive-up window, delivery method.
If your customers are out-of-their vehicles, I'd place the nucs/packages in an area away from front end of customer line(s).   Put a table half-way between.  
 
Customer at front of line calls out number of packages/nucs.   Crew puts that number on Table.  Customer then approaches and takes their bees.  Next customer steps up, repeats.  Multiple lines would further reduce congestion. 

You want the customers spaced out over time and area.  I'd ask/require all of them to wear face covering, even a bandanna will help.    The table idea is being used by grocery delivery folks.  One of our pizza places carries a small crate to set on sidewalk.  Food is placed on crate.  Money is paid over telephone.  No one meets at the crate.
You may want to have a greeter meet people coming from vehicles, directing human foot traffic, laying out rules.  I'd have a greeter at a marked station with some tape or flags providing a barrier to keep everyone from mobbing the greeter - remember the 6-9 ft rule.  Find a mask for the greeter, as well as gloves.  No hand shaking, no standing in groups talking, etc.
Pay attention to any wind or breeze.  Try to arrange setup so wind blows away, doesn't blow from one group to the other.
If you've got people bringing trailers or trucks, have them go to another station, stay in their vehicles.
Keep in mind, anyone may be asymptomatic, yet be a carrier - remember Typhoid Mary.  You don't want to put yourself or your crew at risk, and you don't want  to be held liable if a bunch of people picking up bees all get sick in a few days.  The 60 member choir that held a rehearsal, now has 45 sick, with two dead provides a  grim lesson learned, hopefully not to be repeated.
Having said all of this, I am not a medical expert, although I have worked with highly dangerous chemicals and biologicals and have had HAZMAT training.   The first decision one has to make, is it worth the risk?  The second is if the decision is yes, then you need to establish a plan, put in place a protocol, and then educate all of your customers and all of your crew.  They need to know the protocol before heading out to get bees.
What I have outlined are suggestions, not guarantees.  Others on this list may have better suggestions. 

As per whether hobby beekeeping is an essential activity, one could try arguing - I need for garden, greenhouse, orchard, but I think many in the medical community might consider a hobby such as  beekeeping while in isolation is essential for mental health.
I well understand why NY city doesn't want people out on the sidewalks.  But in a rural state like Vermont, I suggest that they look to what our Montana Governor decided.  He issued a Stay-In-Place directive on March 28th.  However his advisers and he himself recognize the need to offset cabin-fever.
 
We are allowed. even encouraged short trips to go fishing, hiking, take a walk, etc.  Just don't go in a group, step aside when meeting people on a trail, etc.  Rather than social distancing, practice physical distancing.  The word social downplays the important issue - it's the physical spacing. that is important.
 
Remember also, the virus may hang in suspension in enclosed spaces.   Out-doors, wind can be both a positive or a negative factor.  I breeze to carry the virus away from people is good.  The farther away, the more it's likely to disperse until the density of viral particles is very small, or non-existent.  But if the wind is blowing from someone else, toward you.  The wind may carry the virus particles well beyond 6-9 ft, maybe 25 ft or more.
Whatever you do, protect your customers, protect your family and crew, and protect yourself.
Fair Warning, for those who do not want to see COVID-19 postings on Bee-L, you can stop reading here.  But for those who wonder, how bad is this?
I suggest that everyone ignore Internet comments such as "more people die each day from suicide in the USA".   Using this statement as an example, from the statistics that I have found, on average about 110-130 people commit suicide per day.  

The COVID-19 daily death rate for the US was 85 on March 18, over 400 by March 28, passed 1,000 on April 2, was 1,387 yesterday, and there's no evidence that we're near the epidemic peak.
Fortunately, I personally am not in the highest risk group - over 80+ years old, where worldwide death rates for all confirmed cases is as high as 15-20%.  Nope, I'm in the 'lucky', only 8% death rate group.












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