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Post by chuck on Oct 27, 2014 21:38:17 GMT -7
This Monday 10/27 the task force created by this House Bill finished it's last published meeting.
I found out belatedly but was able to send in comments expressing my displeasure on some of there then pending recommendations. Last week I printed a version of their 9/24/2014 draft and responded to it. On the day of their final meeting I find a a remarkably different draft dated 10/3/2014. The dates may not matter but the content does. BOTH versions suggest that all hive's be registered regardless of the numbers in the apiary. That suggestion is under the "cloak" of being able to notify you if they are spraying nearby. The ramifications.....?
I send this knowing full well that there may be different opinions out there and that is fine with me but I would offer this with the wisdom of age.... There isn't much good in their recommendations to this point to protect the personal property rights and "pursuit of happiness" for the individual bee keepers. The applicators sprayed the bumble bees in Wilsonville and the resulting process morphed into a proposed abridgement of beekeeper rights. Think of it... How is Honey Bee management associated with the irresponsible application of a nasty pesticide?
Registration for notification - what good is the notification if they are going to notify and then buzz the house with a crop duster anyway?
You can call me pretty much anything you want (the nasty stuff reflect more than it sticks) but feel free to enlighten me at -chuck@easystreet.net-.
The rest of you should be sitting up and taking notice, they don't have your best interest at heart.
Chuck
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Post by HarryVanderpool on Oct 28, 2014 12:23:56 GMT -7
Registration for notification - what good is the notification if they are going to notify and then buzz the house with a crop duster anyway? Chuck Notification is extremely important. My homesite is surrounded by Christmas tree farms that spray some pretty nasty stuff. My neighbors give be notice a week or two before they are going to spray. Because I'm always moving bees around the state, this really helps in planning which hives to move. The problem is that very few people have this arrangement. Maybe now they will The rest of you should be sitting up and taking notice, they don't have your best interest at heart. Chuck I totally disagree with this statement. If I had to hand pick the committee I would probably pick the exact same people. Good, solid and informed people all the way around the table. They have worked very well together even with widely differing points of view. |
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Post by chuck on Oct 28, 2014 13:34:42 GMT -7
It's clear that a commercial perspective is different than that of a Hobby Bee Keeper. We generally don't move hives around and we may not be available to take whatever action possible.
The problem is one of pesticide application including the impacts on citizens other than BeeKeepers. Registering a bee hive, paying for that registration, and finding the hive subject to random inspection from the government is way out there on the "treating a symptom rather than the disease spectrum". Most of which they are recommending pertaining to Honey Bees will not resolve the issue. The wild bees, bumble bees, and other beneficials will still be impacted even with their notification system in place.
Insofar as the people on the Task Force, I have no way of judging them beyond the product they produced. There was no representation on the Task Force from the OSU Master Bee Keeper program although there was one from the OSU Master Gardener Program, there was no official representation on the Task Force from the OSBA, and finally there was no representative from the Hobby Bee Keeper Community. However, collectivly they came up with an inclusive hive registration program with the associated fees and even more repugnant the Random Inspection of Hives by the Oregon Department of Agriculture.
From my perspective with their recommendations targeting the Bee Keeping community, I would repeat the declaration that the rest of the beekeepers should be sitting up and taking notice, the didn't appear to have the beekeepers best interests at heart.
It's the old story about the Camel getting it's nose under the edge of the tent......
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Post by HarryVanderpool on Oct 28, 2014 18:33:48 GMT -7
It's the old story about the Camel getting it's nose under the edge of the tent...... Chuck, the camel had is nose under the tent for decades here in Oregon. For many years Oregon had hive inspectors working out of the ODA commodity inspection department. In fact, the last State hive inspector was a very, very good friend of mine. He passed away in 2006. The hive inspection program ended somewhere around 1989. The hive inspection along with all other Oregon State honeybee regulation in Oregon has always been started, steered and stopped by the OSBA and the industry. We started the hive inspection program and then later on we ended it. The Task Force is not going impose ANYTHING on us. Their task was to make recommendations to the legislature. The OSBA will have a major presence in anything related, as we always have. The OSBA has a very good relationship with the Oregon Department of Agriculture, and I have total confidence in them as I have worked directly with their various department's for years. Our work with the legislature has always ended on a positive note and I see no change coming with that. It's great to see your involvement, but the sky isn't falling. I agree with your encouragement of others to stay tuned.  |
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Post by chuck on Oct 28, 2014 20:47:35 GMT -7
The subtle little back story is that there is a lot less chance of something happening like they threaten with the recommendations if the recommendations were not made in the first place. I'm familiar with all you say about the Task Force relationship to the legislature. Having been around the block a couple of times myself - it is far better to be in the mix as early as possible. All too often by the time something like this gets to the more formal stage of legislation the die has been essentially cast because of early recommendations.
It's good that you had a good relationship with an ODA inspector and apparently have more confidence in government at any level than I probably will ever have. I once thought them to be benign as well but experience has taught me to be critically watchful of "the process". The thought of Random Hive Inspections in a few hobby hives on non commercial private property is thoroughly repugnant.
So I would agree with you that the sky is not falling but the recommendations put forward by the Task Force has weakened more than a few "sky supports".
Another thought for you, there are far better ways to finance research than through hive registration fees. It could be said that the public at large benefits directly from the wide distribution of Honey Bees supported by the hobby community. The beekeepers should be thanked and the financing of research should be shouldered by the common benefactors. The common benefactor math exercise is quite revealing.
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Post by HarryVanderpool on Oct 29, 2014 9:55:16 GMT -7
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Post by chuck on Nov 3, 2014 20:59:19 GMT -7
In case there is any difficulty in finding the draft report itself, it can be found at the following URL. olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2013I1/Downloads/CommitteeMeetingDocument/41187What follows is a really high "altitude" reference to the document itself. I would encourage you to ignore anything that appears to be my opinion and read the document and form your own opinions. I personally find the overall involuntary tone in the "repugnant" category. Examination of page 1 will find a reference to Bee Hive registration fees. Examination of page 2 will find a reference that managed bee can be moved out of the poximity of a treatment site. Examination of page 7 will find reference to random inspection of bee hives by the Oregon Department of Agriculture. Examination of page 11 continuing on page 12 will find reference to a Health Research Need. Under the proposals in this document that would be an involuntary participation in the program as they used data from the registration data base, perhaps a data base that is funded by the fees drived from the registration fees themselves. Implicit in the Long Term study would be the need to provide updates as the base line would be of little value as a stand alone. The implication is clear that the recommendations would require follow-on involuntary paper work at some point. Examination of page 12 will find a reference to a $500,000 budget necessary to field two technicians to travel and sample bee hives. Would this be in addition to the Oregon Department of Agriculture random inspections? Examinaition of page 13 will find reference to Apiary Counts/Registrations. Implicit record keeping and reporting almost assuredly required? Examination of page 14 will find a refenece to the actual fee structure and final use of the hive registration fees. Of course this would represent an involuntary participation in the research projects. Maybe it's just another tax and just another abridgement of personal property rights that I should be used to by now..... |
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Post by keith841 on Apr 14, 2015 20:00:16 GMT -7
I hope to move to Oregon this summer. After reading this I will certainly not buy property next to a farm. I dont want my bees,gardens or property sprayed.
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