Relates to beekeeper and apiary surveys

Title of bill

An act to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to beekeeper and apiary surveys

Purpose or general idea of bill

This legislation would repeal chapter 249 of the laws of 2007, which required beekeepers to post identification tags at each apiary yard location in order to establish a database of beekeepers, yard locations and the number of colonies at each location.

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1: Repeals Chapter 249 of the laws of 2007.

Section 2: States that this act shall take effect immediately.

Justification

When the beekeeper survey law was enacted more than two years ago, it was thought that this law would benefit the state's beekeeping industry by helping them determine the cause of the bee colony collapse. To date, the collection of data has resulted in inconclusive information, while costing the Department of Agriculture and Markets thousands of dollars in administrative and field operations costs and nuisancing the beekeepers with unneeded paperwork and disruptive yard inspections.

At the April 2009 Empire State Honey Producers Association (ESHPA) Directors meeting a resolution was approved unanimously supporting the repeal of this law. By eliminating these surveys that have had ambiguous results and are unpopular among those it claims to serve, it is both fiscally and programmatically sound policy, especially when our state is in its current fiscal crisis.

Prior legislative history

New Bill.

Fiscal implications

Savings, although negligible, to the State.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.