Compulsory registration?

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greatbritishhoney

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What are everyone's views on the concept of compulsory registration (as used in many other countries) where all beekeepers have to register with a central body and also mark each hive with a unique code?
I realise this idea is probably abhorrent for many amateur beekeepers but it could be argued that it would be the only effective way of pushing the hive theives out into the open.
 
Not on your nelly! - especially as I know who'd demand the right to implement it.........
I'm quite happy with my own arrangements for security, and have little truck with the forces of darkness who seek to control and regulate everything to the nth degree.......
 
Not on your nelly! - especially as I know who'd demand the right to implement it.........

Who do you think would demand the right to implement This?
 
the only effective way of pushing the hive theives out into the open.

Don't see how. This came up quite recently as, or in, another thread.

Still get stolen and the hives would be firewood.

Regards, RAB
 
I suppose the idea is that registration of each hive would mean the beekeeper would have to have an audit trail for all his colonies (much the same as cattle, sheep, pig movement licences etc).
If a beekeeper was found to have say 50 colonies that he/she could not account for then it could reasonably be assumed that they had not been acquired or created legitimately.
I should point out I'm playing devil's advocate here - I'm not necessarily personally in favour.
 
What are everyone's views on the concept of compulsory registration (as used in many other countries) where all beekeepers have to register with a central body and also mark each hive with a unique code?
I realise this idea is probably abhorrent for many amateur beekeepers but it could be argued that it would be the only effective way of pushing the hive theives out into the open.

Number plate recognition cameras, photo driving licenses haven't reduced car crime !! why should registration have any impact on hive theft ??

John Wilkinson
 
I suppose the idea is that registration of each hive would mean the beekeeper would have to have an audit trail for all his colonies (much the same as cattle, sheep, pig movement licences etc).
If a beekeeper was found to have say 50 colonies that he/she could not account for then it could reasonably be assumed that they had not been acquired or created legitimately.
I should point out I'm playing devil's advocate here - I'm not necessarily personally in favour.

Hi,

The problem here is that the bee rustler would a). shake them into a dead-out hive which had been registered in a previous year or b). hide them away until May, shake them into new boxes and register them as increase off existing colonies.

The other problem is what happens if we have registered colonies go 'missing'? Do we get penalized because we can't account for them? A friend of mine who farms on the banks of the Severn lost a beast to a flood a few years ago but because he didn't have a tagged carcass to prove that the animal hadn't been sold on the black market he was fined something in the region of £5K by the Ministry.

I'm not saying that I'm against a compulsory registration scheme, but I'd want some pretty clear details before voting for one.

Best Wishes,
Roland
 
Perhaps if we had an effective police force and very stiff penalties for all criminals instead of the mamby pamby courts who give out cream buns to anyone who feels that this country owes them a living from stealing.... from where~ever in the world they come from....
We do not need any more leglislation from the EU !!
 
Number plate recognition cameras, photo driving licenses haven't reduced car crime !! why should registration have any impact on hive theft ??

John Wilkinson

Not reduced car crime, but may have caught more offenders...
 
"Who do you think would demand the right to implement This?" - well, I wouldn't have thought that would have taken a lot of working out - I'd put my money on a certain minority organisation that claims to speak for all UK beekeepers (but who only have around a third of them as members), yet who actually spend FAR more time and effort in supporting their paymasters in "Big Pestco. Inc"...... tip of my tongue, can't remember the name........:D
 
OK, here he is, 50 colonies. A perfectly legitimate beekeeper (all his hives are registered and bar coded or whatever), but very dishonest.

Oops, he lost 49 of them one winter, so big trouble ahead to replace and get a crop this year. Ahh, just pay the local night shift poachers/thieves/scum a small premium to collect 30+ hives from around the area, fill the legitimate bar-coded hives and burn, or otherwise dispose of, the stolen bar-coded hives.

OK, it might be a rediculous exaggeration (and apologies to anyone with 50 colonies out there, for using that number as an example), but for the odd hive nicked by the scum, the better way of proving things would be coded queens, coded frames and coded boxes (unless they were apprehended almost red-handed). When they know the boxes are coded, they will be finding ways around that little difficulty! Coded frames is out of the question for vendors, and coded queens is a legal minefield when we are talking about a relatively small number of thefts.

One single problem is knowing when they were nicked, especially when at out-apiaries, which may only be visited once or twice a week in the season, and perhaps once a month in the winter!

So, no, coding boxes would not particulay help nail the thieves, whether dishonest beekeepers, dishonest starters to beekeeping, or the quick-buck thieves who know where there is a ready market.

My view on compulsory registration of all hives is that it would be impossible to achieve and simply another jobsworth occupation. Most beeks are already on the radar, but every colony - no.

Regards, RAB
 
"Who do you think would demand the right to implement This?" - well, I wouldn't have thought that would have taken a lot of working out - I'd put my money on a certain minority organisation that claims to speak for all UK beekeepers (but who only have around a third of them as members), yet who actually spend FAR more time and effort in supporting their paymasters in "Big Pestco. Inc"...... tip of my tongue, can't remember the name........:D

BILGE as usual, doesn't you fertile imagination ever take a break ?.
serve you right if BIG BROTHER sued you for harassment :rant:

John Wilkinson
 
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My dear chap, nothing would make me happier -then the true story would be played out in open court, the press would have a righteous field day, and the miscreants would receive their just come-uppances - as a very bright legal eagle once told me "they can't afford to take you to court - the whole story would come out".... So (and I've always wanted to say it - "come on punks, make my day!")
You really seem to think that their scurrilous dealings are in some pardonable, acceptable, and should not be mentioned - on yer bike!
 
Hi,

There is of course no real reason why colonies shouldn't be registered from a husbandry perspective. This is surely in everyone's interest. The problem comes with the possible 'add on' aspects of regulation.

Roland
 
Beekeeper registration could be made to work (whether it's a good idea or not). Colony registration no chance because it's just too volatile and the admin cost would not justify any of the tiny benefits. And what about those that use same size boxes for brood and super?
 
My colonies are registered in effect via my hive records both hard copy and audio .
Bee-base have (obviously outdated )a record of my colony numbers !
Big brother also for insurance purposes !

Forgive me for sitting on the fence but I seriously cannot make up my mind whether it be for good or evil.
Apologies to the fantasist for bringing the thread back on topic :angelsad2:

John Wilkinson
 
Not reduced car crime, but may have caught more offenders...

:beatdeadhorse5:

I was once famously misquoted as stating that ............

"Surrey police catch more burglars in their speed traps, than their CID ever will"

Is it more illegal to steal someones bees than to do 33mph in a 30 limit?

bee-smillie
 
No fantasy John, just sad, cold, hard facts! I'd say that those who can't fully grasp the enormity of that which is being perpetrated are the ones with a tenuous grasp of reality!
Personally, I wouldn't allow them to count the pencils, let alone bee colonies
 
No fantasy John, just sad, cold, hard facts! I'd say that those who can't fully grasp the enormity of that which is being perpetrated are the ones with a tenuous grasp of reality!
Personally, I wouldn't allow them to count the pencils, let alone bee colonies

Give it a rest !!you're utterly boring, the topic is registration .
You hi-jack every thread with the same paranoid claptrap :nature-smiley-016:

John Wilkinson
 

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