The Afroqueerized Beekeeper

So DC has a new law now which is said to “promote sustainable urban agriculture.” It’s a massive document, of course, but I’m especially interested in the sections on apiculture Sections 212-220 titled SUBTITLE B. PROMOTING URBAN AGRICULTURE THROUGH BEEKEEPING. 

Take note of the language around Africanized Bees (of which there is no known presence here in the D.C. area):

(1) “Africanized bee” means a hybrid variety of Apis mellifera produced by the cross-breeding of the aggressive African honey bee Apis mellifera scutellata with a more gentle European honey bee subspecies.

On acceptable methods of beekeeping:

(c) A colony shall be kept in Langstroth-type hives with removable combs, maintained in sound and usable condition and with adequate space in the hive to prevent overcrowding and deter swarming.

(a) A colony shall be selected from European stock bred for gentleness and non-swarming characteristics. No Africanized bees may be maintained in the District.

On Bee behavior and control:

(b) If a colony exhibits unusual aggressive characteristics by stinging or attempting to sting without due provocation, or exhibits an unusual disposition toward swarming, the beekeeper shall promptly re-queen the colony with a marked queen.

Notice anything here? Now how could such dated, inaccurate, incomplete and downright racist language language about bees have made it into a law passed in 2012? Good question. 

For those of you who are lost, I will post more about the myths around Africanized Bees. Basically the myth hinges on the assumption that hybridized bees are always aggressive and that it’s their “African-ness” that’s causes the aggression. Please don’t comment if you haven’t done your homework. Save yourself the whiplash. 

I also see a complete erasure of other methods of beekeeping—including methods which are popular on the African continent. Believe it or not, not all people keep their bees in stacks of white boxes called Langstroth hives. This law makes this a given in D.C. Here’s a Langstroth hive. It’s cute but it’s not the only way. I will dedicate the next week to posting about African methods of beekeeping. 

Any law that promotes the erasure of methods of agriculture based in non-european/non-western culture, promote racism. Any law that promotes racism is racist. Any law about agriculture that is racist is, by definition, not about sustainability.   

There are more absurdities in this law.

On the powers of the Office of the Mayor (which has no Agricultural Extension Agency that operates in D.C. Animal control in D.C. is also pretty ill-equipped to handle bees):

(c) The Mayor may destroy a colony of a beekeeper who fails to fulfill the requirements of this section.

(a) The Mayor may take measures to control the spread of bee diseases and may order a beekeeper to take measures to control the spread of bee diseases.

(b) The Mayor shall treat or destroy the bees, hives, and honey of a beekeeper who fails to take measures ordered by the Mayor to eradicate or control bee disease.

So remember those pictures I posted about bee removals? Guess who you call to remove, eradicate (which should never be done) or control bees, diseased or otherwise? BEEKEEPERS!!! 

I know this isn’t what they meant but imagine our illustrious (and by illustrious I mean sleazy and corrupt) Mayor scaling a third story window in a bee suit to seize an escaped colony. Not going to happen. The policing and regulating that is proposed in this law is not possible without the consent and participation of beekeepers. Which begs the questions, what beekeeper in their right mind would help enforce unreasonable and discriminatory beekeeping regulations?

HAHAHAHA!! But ultimately, here’s what it’s all about:

(a) The Mayor may establish a schedule of fees for registration and may take any other action necessary to implement this act.

(b) The Mayor may require a beekeeper to reimburse the District for the District’s costs resulting from implementation of this act with respect to the beekeeper.

Stay woke folks.