Background
In recent years, beekeepers have been reporting losses of hives at unprecedented levels. The numbers of other pollinators, like native bees, butterflies and bats, are also declining. Much of the food we eat develops because of the pollination these animals provide, so their declining numbers worried a lot of people.
A number of North Carolina farm products produce food only with pollination, so there has been concern in the Old North State about declining numbers of pollinators. Some farmers, beekeepers, farmer advocates and others have been meeting for a year to develop North Carolina’s response to declining numbers. One piece of that response includes some changes to regulations implementing North Carolina’s Pesticide Law.
The reason NC is taking a look at its pollinator policies now is because in 2014, President Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum that required members of various federal agencies to form a task force and develop a plan to promote pollinator health.
In mid -2015, the inter-agency task force released its Strategy and its Pollinator Research Action Plan.
Current Situation
February 1, 2016
The Rules Review Commission voted on December 7, 2015 to approve the Pesticide Board’s proposed changes to the Apiary Notification rule. You can review the minutes of that meeting and vote here.
The changes to the Apiary Notification were published in the NC Register today, making the changes officially the law in North Carolina. You can read the final rule here (scroll to page 1628).
The newly published rule is an improvement of the prior law, requiring licensed pesticide applicators to provide owners of apiaries registered with the Department of Agriculture with more notice of aerial spraying than was required in the past. Owners of registered apiaries will not be entitled to receive notice of the type of pesticide to be used and the approximate time of day that spraying will take place.This notice must be given at least 48 hours prior to aerial spraying of any pesticide labeled as toxic to bees, provided that spraying will take place one mile or less from the registered apiary.
CFSA encourages apiary owners and operators to consider whether registering their hives with the NCDA could help protect their honey bees from deadly pesticide exposure. It is possible to register your hive directly with NCDA using this form (which does not reflect the recent changes in the law), or by joining Driftwatch, a service available for the first time in NC this year.
November 10, 2015
The Pesticide Board reviewed the proposed rule at its scheduled meeting today. Meetings of the Pesticide Board are open to the public and CFSA sent a representative to attend. The Board members each received a copy of the comment submitted by CFSA and Toxic Free NC. The Board did not engage in much discussion regarding the proposed rule, did not mention or debate the recommendations made by CFSA and Toxic Free NC, and voted to approve the proposed rule as written.
CFSA is disappointed that the Pesticide Board did not see fit to discuss the best scientific evidence available about honeybee foraging habits and take that evidence into account when considering changes to the apiary notification rule. Nevertheless, the proposed rule approved by the Pesticide Board is an improvement over current law, and CFSA supports efforts to protect honeybees and other pollinators.
October 19, 2015
CFSA and Toxic Free NC jointly submitted a comment to the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA) expressing concerns shared by both organizations with the proposed rule. We encourage NCDA to implement the reasonable, science-based approach we suggest when it comes to providing beekeepers with notice of impending pesticide use close to registered apiaries. We also urge the NCDA to make sure everyone understands what information pesticide applicators are expected to provide to beekeepers; incomplete or insufficient information could cause unnecessary harm to bees.
Read our comment here: Apiary Notification Comment
September 10, 2015
The North Carolina Department of Agriculture proposed changes to pesticide rules in a notice published on August 17, 2015. The changes are an improvement over current law, but we think they could be even better.
Currently, anyone who hires an aerial pesticide applicator is required to give beekeepers 24 hours of notice before spraying within 1/2 a mile of a registered hive. The proposed rule increases the notice to 48 hours and the distance to 1 mile.
The proposed change adds some new ways those who hire aerial pesticide applicators can give notice to beekeepers. Notice may still be given in writing by mail or by posting at the beekeepers home, by phone, or letting the beekeeper know in person. The proposed rule adds email and instant messaging as acceptable methods of providing notice.
Take Action
October 19, 2015
Check out the comment CFSA and Toxic Free NC submitted together: Apiary Notification Comment
We now await the final rule from the NC Department of Agriculture, which may be published as early as mid-November. Check back here for updates!
September 10, 2015
The changes proposed by NCDA are improvements over the current requirements, but we don’t think they do enough to protect honeybees. If you’re a beekeeper, we’d like to know what you think. Please take our survey before October 2, 2015, and we’ll include the data we collect in the comment we submit to NCDA.
Submit a comment of your own!
If you think that NCDA’s proposed rule should entitle beekeepers to more notice before aerial spraying, or if you think that beekeepers should get notice if their hives are located more than a mile from aerial spraying, or if you think beekeepers should get notice if pesticides are going to be applied, even if the application won’t be aerial, you should let NCDA know.
Submit your comment to James Burnette, Jr. by mail at 1090 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1090 or by email to james.burnette@ncagr.gov by October 16,2015.