Content
- 1 The current federal law on beekeeping
- 1.1 Law No. 112-FZ "On personal subsidiary plots"
- 1.2 Document of the Main Directorate of Veterinary Medicine of the USSR Ministry of Agriculture "Veterinary and Sanitary Rules for Keeping Bees" dated 15.12.76
- 1.3 Instruction "On measures for the prevention and elimination of diseases, poisoning and the main pests of bees" No. 13-4-2 / 1362, approved on 17.08.98
- 2 Comments, questions and explanations to the Federal Law on beekeeping
- 3 How to properly keep bees in the village
- 4 How to behave if a neighbor contains bees
- 5 Conclusion
The beekeeping law should regulate the breeding of bees and promote the development of this industry. The provisions of the law determine the basic rules for the breeding of honey insects, as well as establish the necessary standards for their maintenance in various conditions. The activities of any apiary must comply with the provisions of the law.
The current federal law on beekeeping
Currently, there is no effective federal law on beekeeping. Attempts were made to accept it several years ago, but it did not even pass the first reading. Therefore, beekeeping issues are regulated either by local legislation containing laws on bees, or by documents from various specialized departments.
Also, there is no special instruction on the maintenance of bee colonies and the organization of beekeeping in settlements and summer cottages. Currently, for these purposes, three documents are used that define, in one form or another, the basic principles of keeping bees.
Law No. 112-FZ "On personal subsidiary plots"
It describes the norms that must be followed for keeping bees. However, they are presented not so much as requirements for the arrangement of an apiary, how many provisions of which documents should be followed for its creation. That is, there is no specifics in them, but there are only references to other laws and orders. This law and its provisions will be of little interest to beekeepers.
Document of the Main Directorate of Veterinary Medicine of the USSR Ministry of Agriculture "Veterinary and Sanitary Rules for Keeping Bees" dated 15.12.76
Collection of rules and regulations for the maintenance of the apiary. Contains the largest amount of useful information. It is from it that all the necessary parameters and standards are taken related to:
- equipment and technical equipment of the apiary;
- its location on the ground;
- events held there;
- methods and techniques for monitoring the state of bees, honey collection, and other processes;
- other issues of beekeeping.
Many provisions of these "Rules" were included in the draft federal law "On beekeeping".
Instruction "On measures for the prevention and elimination of diseases, poisoning and the main pests of bees" No. 13-4-2 / 1362, approved on 17.08.98
In fact, it repeats a similar document of the USSR Veterinary Directorate, adopted in 1991 (which in turn consists of the previously mentioned "Veterinary and Sanitary Rules ..."), and describes a number of issues related to the keeping of bees, but with a greater degree of specificity.
In particular, the main points related to the maintenance of apiaries are indicated:
- requirements for their placement and arrangement;
- requirements for the maintenance of honey insects;
- measures to protect apiaries from pathogens;
- describes measures to combat infectious and invasive diseases, bee poisoning, etc.
Comments, questions and explanations to the Federal Law on beekeeping
As it is easy to see, the provisions on beekeeping, acting instead of a single federal law, are "smeared" in several documents, which are, in fact, instructions. This has both positive and negative sides.
The positive is that the specified documents indicate specific parameters and specific actions that must be observed or taken by the beekeeper in order to work with the apiary. On the negative side, the absence of the status of the law does not allow the full use of the provisions of the rules and instructions in possible litigation.
The provisions of the listed documents are considered in more detail below.
Veterinary and sanitary rules for keeping bees
The veterinary and sanitary passport of an apiary is a document that must be present at every apiary, regardless of the form of ownership or its departmental affiliation. That is, even private apiaries should have such a document.
It contains the name of the owner of the apiary, his coordinates (address, mail, phone number, etc.), as well as information about the apiary itself. This information includes:
- the number of bee colonies;
- assessment of the sanitary condition of the apiary;
- epizootic state of the apiary;
- list of recommended activities, etc.
Each passport has a validity period and a serial number.
The passport is filled in by the beekeeper himself and signed by the chief veterinarian of the district. You can get a passport at the veterinary medicine department of the district or region.
There you can also get an apiary diary (the so-called beekeeper's diary). It is not a mandatory document, however, it is recommended to keep it in order to better assess the condition of the bees and the effectiveness of their work.
Obligatory documents required for the sale of any beekeeping products are veterinary certificates in the 1-vet and 2-vet forms, which are also issued by the regional or district veterinary department. The information contained in them is filled in by the veterinarian on the basis of the veterinary and sanitary passport of the apiary.
To practice apitherapy, you must either obtain a license for medical activity (which is impossible for beekeepers without medical education), or a permit to practice traditional medicine. Naturally, the second option is more common, but this requires a healer's diploma. Healer diplomas are issued by the "Federal Scientific Clinical and Experimental Center for Traditional Diagnostic and Treatment Methods" or its local offices.
Rules for keeping bees for large objects
Apiary should be located at a distance of at least half a kilometer from the following objects:
- roads and railways;
- sawmills;
- high voltage lines.
The location of apiaries should be at least 5 km from:
- confectionery factories;
- chemical industry enterprises;
- airfields;
- polygons;
- radars;
- TV and radio towers;
- other sources of electromagnetic and microwave radiation.
Restrictions on keeping bees in the backyard
Apiaries or bee hives should be located at a distance of at least 100 m from educational institutions (schools or kindergartens), medical, cultural and other civil structures of importance, or where a large number of people are concentrated.
Veterinary rules do not separate the types of terrain (rural, urban, etc.) to comply with this rule, that is, these rules have the same interpretation for household plots located both in rural areas and in urban areas.
What are the standards for keeping bees
Keeping bees requires compliance with certain standards. First of all, this applies to apiaries located within the boundaries of settlements, since in this case you will have to deal with neighbors. It is possible that not everyone will like to live next door to the apiary, since the likelihood of bee stings increases significantly. The situation can get to the point that due to bee stings, neighbors can even sue the beekeeper.
In order to avoid the legal consequences of such incidents, it is necessary to follow the rules for placing hives in summer cottages. These rules are easy enough to follow, so the likelihood of a negative outcome of all kinds of official actions on the part of neighbors or authorities is minimal.
The basic requirements for keeping bees in the private residential sector relate to two simple rules:
- The distance from the hive to the neighboring area must be at least 10 m.
- The area per colony must be at least 100 sq. m.
To find out if there is an area requirement for one bee colony, it is recommended that you check your local beekeeping legislation. This information can be obtained from your local authority or the veterinary office.
How many hives can be kept on a plot in a village
If regional legislation prescribes that each bee colony accounts for at least 100 sq. m of the area of the site, then this requirement should be adhered to. In this case, the calculation of the number of hives is done according to a simple principle:
- They draw a plan of the site and limit the area for placing the hives on it (at least 10 m from the fence).
- Calculate the area of the remaining plot in sq. m, which will be the area of the apiary.
- By dividing the resulting area by 100, the maximum number of hives is obtained. Rounding down is done.
If the amount of the area is not stipulated by regional legislation, the maximum number of hives in a settlement cannot exceed 150. The existing legislation does not divide the keeping of bees by type of settlement, an apiary can be located anywhere - in a country house, in a city or a village.
How far should the apiary be from residential buildings?
Small apiaries (up to 150 families) can be kept in settlements, adhering to the provisions set out in the veterinary rules. This means the location of the apiary 100 m from children's and medical institutions or places of mass gathering of people. The restrictions on the distance to residential buildings also remain unchanged - at least 10 m to the fence.
There are no norms prescribing the location of large apiaries outside settlements in the existing rules. It is understood that in this case this distance should be no less than the maximum flight distance of the bee (up to 2.5-3 km).
Rules for breeding bees in the village
When placing bees in a settlement, the following provisions should be adhered to:
- the distance between the hives should be between 3 and 3.5 m;
- hives are arranged in rows;
- the distance between the rows is at least 10 m;
- in front of the hives' entrance, sod should be removed 50 cm forward in their direction and covered with sand;
- foreign objects and various architectural objects should not be located on the territory of the apiary;
- the height of fences around the perimeter of the site or part of it bordering on the sites of neighbors must be at least 2 m, fences, dense bushes, various types of hedges, etc. can be used as a fence.
The bee hives are directed towards the planting of plants intended for honey collection.
What kind of bees can bees in the village
According to the rules for keeping bees in a personal plot, it is forbidden to keep bees with aggressive behavior in settlements, which can harm the population or damage any kind of economic activity.
Clause 15 of the "Rules ..." prescribes the maintenance of bee breeds that are peace-loving, namely:
- carpathian;
- Bashkir;
- Caucasian (gray mountain);
- Central Russian.
In addition, according to the rules, you can keep bees of different breeds in your summer cottage.
How to properly keep bees in the village
The basic rules for keeping bees in a village do not differ from their keeping in any other settlement, and they were discussed earlier. The most important requirement is a hedge, from 2 m high, insurmountable for insects.
If all the rules are observed, the law will be on the side of the beekeeper, since there are no other prohibitions on keeping bees.
How to keep your neighbors safe
The main way to protect neighbors from bees has already been outlined earlier - it is necessary to equip the perimeter of the site with a fence or a dense hedge with a height of at least 2 m.In the presence of such an obstacle, the bee immediately gains height and flies away for a bribe, without posing a threat to people.
Also, so that the bees do not bother the neighbors, it is necessary to provide them with everything necessary for life (first of all, water), so that they do not search for this in other people's summer cottages.
To provide water to the bees, it is necessary to equip several drinkers in the apiary (usually 2 or 3). There is also a separate drinking bowl, in which the water is slightly salted (0.01% sodium chloride solution).
Sometimes planting honey plants on the site helps, but this practice is not a panacea, since bees will choose nectar from them very quickly.
How to behave if a neighbor contains bees
If a neighbor contains bees, then this is more good than bad. Insects, one way or another, will still penetrate the site and do their small, but important thing there - to pollinate the plants. Bee stings are a serious problem only for those who are allergic to bee venom.
To protect yourself, you should fence yourself off from your neighbor with a dense hedge or a fence with a height of at least 2 m.This should be done only if the neighbor did not do it himself and no other methods (personally contacting a neighbor, a complaint to the authorities, etc.). did not give any results.
To avoid too much attention of insects to the dwelling or the site, you should not place objects on the territory that attract bees. These include, first of all, open containers with water, sweets, various drinks, etc.
During summer harvesting (mainly jam and compotes), this work should be done in a well-ventilated area, and ventilation holes and windows must be equipped with nets through which insects cannot get to the sugar source.
Conclusion
At the moment, the law on beekeeping has not yet been adopted, but this does not mean that there are no norms regulating the content of honey insects in settlements. These norms are set out in three main documents, which everyone can familiarize with in local authorities or find them on their own on administrative resources on the Web. Compliance with these standards will help create the correct legal framework and protect the beekeeper from possible unpleasant consequences.
