New Jersey Beekeepers Say Proposed State Restrictions Just Won't Fly
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- New Jersey's backyard beekeepers say they'll get stung by regulations proposed by the state Department of Agriculture. The requirements would replace the current voluntary guidelines.
The proposed regulations would prevent people from keeping beehives on small lots of a quarter of an acre or less, and on properties up to five acres, limit the number of hives to two. Beekeepers would also have to register their hives annually, and erect so-called "flyway barriers" around them. Julie Akers of the South Jersey Beekeepers Association says it amounts to a solution in search of a problem.
"If it's not broke, don't fix it," Akers said. "It's not a broken system, what we have. It needed to have some formalization. And this was not the way to go."
Two lawmakers, Assemblyman Ronald Dancer and Senator Jeff Van Drew, have voiced opposition, and introduced resolutions calling on the Agriculture Department to amend or withdraw the measures.