Keeping Bees in Utah

Over the weekend, Utah Beekeepers Association had their annual meeting.  I was not able to attend, but I am hearing rumblings that many of the large commercial beekeepers and the state want to make it more difficult to keep bees in Utah.  This is a travesty.  We need more beekeepers not less. We do need people who are interested in learning and improving beekeeping methods though.

Here is my take:

First I am not very politically active.  I should be, but it hasn't made my priority list yet.  I don't like government managing everything. This includes managing beekeeping.  I do recommend everyone abide by the current regulations.  Each person in Utah that keeps bees needs to have a license.  Currently they are pretty cheap.  For a hobbyist with less than 20 hives it is $10/year.  This is mainly to register your hives. Here is a link to the Utah Beekeeping License Application. The next thing I recommend is that beekeepers try to educate themselves as much as possible.  As a hobbyist we are able to do more for our bees naturally to help them over come some of the current issues than large commercial beekeepers.  Both types of beekeepers are crucial to making sure we have healthy honey bees.

Commercial beekeepers are in a tough spot.  Their lively hood depends on their bees.  They typically transport their bees from state to state for pollination.  This brings back to Utah all kinds of things.  One example is we currently don't have too many problems with the hive beetle, but it wont be long.  These Commercial beekeepers typically don't have time to try natural methods, so they treat their hives both for problems and as a precaution.  In my opinion this isn't the best thing for bees, but I understand why they do it.  With out this type of beekeeper, the hobbyist would have a difficult time having access to bees and supplies.

Hobbyist beekeepers are generally able to try different techniques to help the bees without over medicating them.  Many proven methods are out there.  They take more time and probably are not economical for commercial beekeepers. As hobbyist though I feel we do need to take responsibility to learn the different deceases and pest that affect our bees.  This is obviously something you have to progress at, but I do think we need to be proactive with it.

I really hope the landscape of beekeeping in Utah doesn't change for the worse.  I realize I need to do a better job of getting involved with the different beekeeping associations and supporting them as well as educating myself.  It does take time and is hard to justify sometimes, but I need to try harder to get involved. I love beekeeping.  It helps my gardens, it gives me fresh pure honey, and the bees are fascinating.  I also enjoy helping others get started.  Its important to me to do my part to help keep the barriers to entry low for beekeepers.

Here are a couple of links to the local and state beekeeping associations.  Check them out, some have some really good information:

Utah County Beekeepers Association
Wasatch Beekeepers Association
Utah Beekeepers Association

Happy Beekeeping!