The New Jersey Agriculture Department says it is balancing the interests of beekeepers and their neighbors in developing statewide honeybee regulations. But the leader of a beekeepers’ group says that most of New Jersey’s 3,500 hobbyists and small commercial beekeepers will be prevented from keeping bees “in some or all of the places they now have bees” if the state goes ahead with the proposal, reported the Press of Atlantic City.
Under the proposal, a beehive could not be situated on less than a quarter-acre of land, and five acres would be needed to house two hives — in both cases, far more land than commonly used now. Waivers would be allowed in some instances. Public comment on the proposal closed on Thursday.
State Sen. Jeff Van Drew, a co-sponsor of the 2015 legislation calling for statewide regulations, said the intent was to encourage beekeeping in the face of high mortality rates for bees and concern about the preservation of pollinating insects. “It sounds like they are clamping down on beekeepers and beehives,” he told the Atlantic City newspaper. The state agriculture official in charge of the rulemaking process said, “We are walking down the middle of the road. We are allowing beekeeping, but want some regulations.”