How to get All Beekeepers a Bad Name

[Hivemaker.]

Nothing they are not animals.

They are animals.

 

[Hachi]

Whilst it can be argued a bee could be an animal it is not afforded "animal" status as defined in the Animal Welfare Act 2006 as a bee is not a vertebrate. Therefore there is no protection under the AWA for bee's. Which the post was alluding to

 

[Hachi]

my original reply updated for clarity

 

[Helen]

Unless its something they're interested in they won't rock up

Tell the police that there are thousands of animals armed with barbed sword-like weapons on them, attacking people who go near. They may find that interesting?

 

[Hachi]

Tell the police that there are thousands of animals armed with barbed sword-like weapons on them, attacking people who go near. They may find that interesting?

I'm sure they wouldn't see the funny side of that but I do

 

[Julie in Ash]

This is an interesting thread on a subject I had not considered. With animals, both companion and farm, even the RSPCA has no automatic right of seizure. Only the Police can seize, usually at the direction of a qualified veterinary surgeon. ( With bees, maybe the Bee Inspector will do this role?)


Doubt it they don't have the resources to their day job.


Police will grant custody to the RSPCA after seizure.

The
Unless its something they're interested in they won't rock up

I have no idea whether Bees would be classed under the Animal Welfare Act.

Nothing they are not animals as defined under the AWA

We cannot police ourselves, surely?

Why not? Far better than the Nanny state getting involved?

I would think any authority with powers to act under the law, would do so in conjunction with others who have expertise in bees.

Which laws exactly?

The Police will attend if the RSPCA requests their attendance. The RSPCA might be waiting a while for a response , I accept, but they are mandated to attend. Normally these things are done via prearranged appointment when seizure is planned.

The relevant laws regarding animals and their care and obligations of local authorities and the Police are the 1948 National Assistance Act and the 2006 Animal Welfare Act (amended 2018). I do not know which laws apply outside animal welfare, such as environmental health legislation, as that is outside my personal

 

[Ian123]

Just going back to the first post why would the RSPCA get involved! Were is the welfare issue. Bees are clearly doing well enough to propogate, the numbers wont cause an issue just the location. According to to info in the first post the locals had no idea about the bees in the garden so very hard to prove what nuisance had been caused/established until the swarms.

 

[Antipodes]

Ian123's point about the nuisance issue is pertinent and I agree with it. Interesting that there are thousands upon thousands of local laws about bees all around the world and they are so different. Even every local council here in Tas. has a different law relating to bees. There was someone here recently who had 40 hives in a yard and the frass became an issue apparently....

 

[eltalia]

There was someone here recently who had 40 hives in a yard and the frass became an
issue apparently....

Wellll I can certainly vouch for the problem where your ride is parked up
within the flight path of bees working colonys on a flow, not pretty I tellya.

Bill

 

[Hachi]

Just going back to the first post why would the RSPCA get involved! Were is the welfare issue. Bees are clearly doing well enough to propogate, the numbers wont cause an issue just the location. According to to info in the first post the locals had no idea about the bees in the garden so very hard to prove what nuisance had been caused/established until the swarms.

I may be wrong and am happy to be corrected with a link to the relevant legislation but surely as Ian has stated, the Police will only attend if requested by the RSPCA if there is more than the balance of probability that an offence has been committed and it appears, no offence has been committed yet?

 

[iann41]

I can't understand what the problem is.

From the OP, no animals or small pebbles were harmed or were in danger or neglected, so police or RSPCA would not get involved.

Only problem I can see is a nuisance problem to the neighbours, which as Ian123 pointed out is minor as they didn't even know the bees were there.

The bees from the evidence, seemed the be thriving and acting as any wild animal (or small pebble) would.

And for the record, if I found anyone snooping around my back entrance, they would find it pretty damn difficult to eat corn on the cob, if you get my drift.

 

[Haughton Honey]

And for the record, if I found anyone snooping around my back entrance, they would find it pretty damn difficult to eat corn on the cob, if you get my drift.

The mind boggles

There are very few areas of our lives that aren't regulated. Let's try and ensure that this one remains unregulated.

 

[Brian Bush]

I am afraid a little of my meaning and concern has been lost as this thread has progressed. My frustration is that there is no clear pathway to help this individual. The keeping of honeybees is outside of any regulation. I do not believe that he is showing adequate care for the bees or neighbours. But as the current regulations stand there is nothing anyone can do about it. I am concerned for the health of the bees and any neighbouring apiaries and also for neighbours who make suffer stinging or much worse. As I say people like this can get us all a bad name

 

[Murox]

It doesn't take regulations to express concern and care in an appropriate way.

 

[SDM]

And why are you concerned ?
The bees are plainly in good enough health to be reproducing.
Besides with BIBBA, B4 project, the Irish etc all now backing "rewilding" efforts I dont see any headway being made against someone choosing to not practice swarm control

 

[birdsandbees]

It doesn't take regulations to express concern and care in an appropriate way.

I also don't really buy into the 'let them swarm willy nilly as it's natural' way of thinking, they should be managed and controlled as livestock even without any governing body telling you what to do, actively letting them swarm can be life threatening, both for anyone with a severe allergic reaction and also when they take up residence in chimneys, flues and block primary air ventilation as this may lead to carbon monoxide poisoning (the silent death)
while proving liability for death by someones bees that were allowed to swarm willingly would be impossible I certainly wouldn't want the death of a family on my hands thanks very much.

I guess it comes down to that saying.. there are Beekeepers and there are beehavers

 

[birdsandbees]

And why are you concerned ?
The bees are plainly in good enough health to be reproducing.
Besides with BIBBA, B4 project, the Irish etc all now backing "rewilding" efforts I dont see any headway being made against someone choosing to not practice swarm control

Ahh but then this comes back to what do you allow to re-wild? you can't re-wild a Buckfast bee as it has never existed as a wild bee surely?
do you allow re-wilding of non native sub species too or only the European dark bee?

Don't get me wrong, in the right places and with the right bees I think its a great idea but not in a built up area where they are more likely to end up in someones house than in a tree.

 

[Murox]

And why are you concerned ?
The bees are plainly in good enough health to be reproducing.
Besides with BIBBA, B4 project, the Irish etc all now backing "rewilding" efforts I dont see any headway being made against someone choosing to not practice swarm control

I know farmers in some areas of Wales are attempting to see if simple changes to grassland management can go hand in hand with bee/pollinator conservation.
But does this mean that BIBBA, B4 project and the Irish have actively invested in rewilding projects with specialised seed mixtures to enhance pollinator populations, encouraged farmers and landowners to use late grazing on flower rich improved pastures and to leave uncut field strips ?

 

[Antipodes]

Hi Brian,

Are you saying that there are no laws in England (either local council or otherwise) that regulate the keeping of bees in an urban apiary?

 

[B+.]

Are you saying that there are no laws in England (either local council or otherwise) that regulate the keeping of bees in an urban apiary?

There are laws about antisocial behaviour which this could easily become.
IMHO, keeping bees in such close proximity to people is asking for trouble.