Fla Beeks -- Is it your State Law requiring Killings of Swarms?

**CentralPAguy** · 03-16-2010, 09:30 PM

Yesterday, a co-worker came back from Pompano Beach, Fl and told me of a swarm that took up residence on his brother's tree as he watched. He also took pictures of this whole process.

He told me that his brother called a beekeeper/pesticide man (I'm not sure which), who came out and the pics are showing him in full beek gear spraying this swarm.

He told his brother that it is Florida law to kill the bees due to them possibly being Africanized. Is this true?? Meanwhile he charged $195 for this service.

When it was all done, my friend went over to see if he could find the queen in the dead pile of bees.

**AmericasBeekeeper** · 03-16-2010, 09:36 PM

Write Jerry Hayes, the Florida chief inspector, or one of his dozen regional inspectors. They recommend extermination, but it is not required. Many of us in Florida still collect swarms legally. If they are Africanized requeen! He probably was not a beekeeper. I taught one of my students to get swarms last year and he is prolific! Several beekeepers of the Tampa Bay Beekeepers Association collect swarms.

**mac** · 03-17-2010, 05:59 AM

CentralPAguy
I checked Fl. statutes and found nothing about having to destroy AHB. Seems like their having more of a problem with Pythons in south Fl. than AHB

**peacekeeperapiaries** · 03-17-2010, 11:27 AM

AB is correct, FL does not require killing them but they do reccomend it (AHB scare tactics) and many pest control companies advise its the law (false they want the $$$). FL Dept of Agriculture issued a memo last year to all their extension offices to STOP referring swarm calls to beeks and refer the callers to extermination services. Most of the local and county emergency services keep a list of beeks for swarm calls and we go get plenty of them.

**hulettmichael** · 03-17-2010, 12:45 PM

My fathe-in-law and I do honeybee removals in west central florida and we have seen that a lot of the big pesticide businesses like to scare a lot of the people they talk to when they have a honeybee problem. A lot of the companies like to use the excuse of "its the law we have to kill them" so they can scare the customer and get more money out of them. There is no law stating all swarms must be killed. Its just a hoax. We do tell the customers when they call that they don't need to go around them just in case they are AHB and that honeybee removals should only be done by a person who specializes in those type of removals.

**Dale Hodges** · 03-17-2010, 05:48 PM

The order is: If not under the control of a qualified beekeeper , they recommend extermination.

**CentralPAguy** · 03-17-2010, 09:16 PM

Today, I got to thinking that for Florida to be concerned to recommend any type of extermination, that they must have done a study on when AHB might overtake the state -- yes???

My buddy came up to me today and told me that another swarm landed on the same spot as the other one and this time the guy is coming around to kill them for free....

**peacekeeperapiaries** · 03-17-2010, 09:52 PM

You might have already done so and if so I apologize for inferrring but I am sure that you or your buddy could look up on BEESOURCE a reputable beek in that area who picks up swarms rather than having a second swarm killed in the name of the law.

**Musashi** · 03-19-2010, 08:54 AM

Let's just say you were a gov't official and were scared of bees, very very scared. Wouldn't you be more inclined to recommend extermination?

**Batman** · 03-19-2010, 09:59 AM

Typical Government response. Overreact on things they they know little about. If anyone in there would take the time to learn to be a beek or had a friend that was, they could learn so much and deal with Bees in a better manner. California's Governor seems to think cutting state workers salary by 15% is a solve all for their budget issues, yet one State Assembly Speaker just gave out a $5,400 per month RAISE to one of his aides, she went from making $125,000 to over $190,000 per year. Further proof that the Gov't doesnt care about anything but themselves. So Bees in Florida are doomed and it might be coming to a state near you soon.

Craig

**Chappie** · 11-01-2010, 09:44 AM

The Florida laws are made to protect all citizens and visitors to the state. While some folks are happy to kill any bees they find some of us collect the swarms that are in an area that does not have AHB.
This year I have collected 107 swarms (personal record) and have had no problems with AHB mostly in north central Florida. We do find lots of mites, SHB, and sick bees sometimes but we do our best to save the bees if we can.
One of the swarms caught this year produced an abundance of honey that was some of the best I have had. I entered some in the FSBA honey competition and just came back from the convention with a blue ribbon.
Now that is a good example of being in the right place at the right time to collect a swarm that was probably cast from another beekeeper's hives in the area (Thanks Tom) LOL
I think feral bees may be from a beekeeper that is not registered with the state and not a feral colony at all. I look up the address where I caught the swarm to see if anyone is registered within 3-5 miles. Usually there is or if you ride the back roads in the area you might spot some unregistered hives. I don't mess with unregistered beekeepers as they can be meaner that a hive of AHB on a robbing bender.
Requeening will not solve all the problems with feral colonies. When I start having to deal with AHB in my area I will stop collecting them. The main reason I spend so much time chasing bees is to have a supply for the new members of our clubs that want to start but are wary about spending their money not knowing what lies ahead. They sometimes listen to the fear mongering that goes on when they surf the web. We don't need to be afraid or AHB, wax moths, varroa mites, or any other pests and diseases that can kill our bees. We need to constantly work on educating ourselves on BMP and be willing to change with the times. Beekeeping is great fun if you want it to be. Let's all help do our part to save the pollinators.

**fish_stix** · 11-01-2010, 05:12 PM

FL Best Management Practices for bees recommends that captured swarms be requeened ASAP with a European queen; no recommendation to kill every swarm. BMP also recommends that every hive be requeened annually, which most commercial beeks do anyway. Right now, in the area from Melbourne to West Palm Beach there are an estimated 100,000 migratory hives from the northern states. Sounds like folks are really worried about AHB! Forget about it, there's no big story here!