The Science
Painstaking field research over recent decades has produced a large body of evidence that honey bee hives adversely impact native bees.
A readable, at times humorous, account of the threats honey bee apiaries pose to native bees.
2020
Franklin’s Bumble bee is critically endangered
Photographer Pete Schroeder
An assessment of why neither feasible nor effective protection can be provided for native bees once honey bee hives are placed among them.
2020
End Categorical Exclusions for Apiaries on Public Land
A Categorical Exclusion is a loophole that allows the US Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service to grant apiary permit requests without assessing impacts to native bees or plants and without notifying the public of the request – both of which otherwise would be required by National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations. Categorical Exclusions are granted for permitting or undertaking activities that would not be expected to have any significant environmental impacts. The following two petitions, to the Department of Agriculture, and Department of Interior, request that those agencies end their current use of Categorical Exclusion to avoid review of apiary placement on public lands. Each petition contains valuable scientific research on the risks posed to native bee populations.
Western Bumblebee
Photographer Joyce Kornblatt
Specialist bees on endangered Dwarf Bear Poppy
Photo by Center for Biological Diversity
UPDATE
On September 21, 2023, Project Eleven Hundred, the Center for Biological Diversity, Xerces International, and UT Native Plant Society sent a letter to the Biden Administration USDI and BLM. The letter reminds them that the petition to end permitting of honey bee apiaries on BLM lands was first sent to USDI and BLM in September 2020 and no response has been provided. The letter requests a meeting with BLM and USDA regarding the petition and we re-sent the petition itself.
UPDATE
On July 23, 2021, the USDA denied our petition, indicating that the responsible Forest Service officer deciding on an apiary permit request assesses the potential for impacts on species of conservation concern and sensitive ecosystems and ensures resource concerns are addressed. We will be reaching out to District Rangers who are considering authorizing or reauthorizing apiary permits, to learn how they are assessing the potential for adverse impacts on native bees and plant species of conservation concern within their District.