We honey bee keepers in Carroll County found out about the VDACS Regulation in February, 2017, some 90 days after they were signed into effect.  Additionally, beekeepers in three bordering counties told us that they hadn’t known of the new Regulations either.  In Carroll County we decided to aim for more robust bridges of communications to include our regional apiary inspectors for rural apiarists and work with VDACS regardless of locale or lack of technology anywhere along the field-to-VDACS spectrum of beekeepers.  We want to see ways to effectively update and catalog what’s relevant to beekeeping five, 10 and 25 years from now when our children and grandchildren are the bee keepers.  

    We are also petitioning to protect current and future Virginia bee keepers if these regulations should no longer be voluntary. This could occur with administration or policy changes at the local, state, national or international level.

    Considering that we are one small club of bee keepers who had input and suggestions, we quickly concluded that the synergism of every bee keeper is valuable input to update or add to definitions, BMP’s, etc. in current Regulations.  Moving forward, we formed an ad hoc committee to review, then took, state administrative, and local and state legislative steps to allow more rural apiarist (1) a reinforced line of communications to and from the state, (2) document waiver requests to assist, for example, apiarists with natural bee keeping as their goal, or those who live on odd shaped properties and have difficulty locating hives per regulations, or, persons living under Home Owners Associations that might have rules affecting fence heights - there are many scenarios - and (3) to formerly utilize VSBA, and, where broadband is lacking, use VDACS & Regional Apiary Inspectors to reach out to bee keepers through county assets such as (VT) County Extension Units, Farm Bureaus, or other media outlets that can pass official information to bee keepers more quickly

   On a personal note, having successfully worked in government and using waivers in radiation health, radioactive controls, and something that used to be called the Personnel Reliability Program - the standards for personnel who fire nuclear weapons, and other high profile / high risk programs, I believe there’s room for waivers in bee keeping.  And in any program there is usually room to improve communications up and down the line.

Happy & prosperous bee keeping to all,

Mr. Chris Ecker

Carroll County bee club member & ad hoc team recorded