Local beekeepers seek new law to limit out-of-county commercial apiaries

Faced with a global bee colony collapse, local beekeepers want to block large commercial apiaries that send their hives to "vacation" in Sonoma County

The Sonoma County Farm Bureau hasn’t taken a position on this issue yet, but their Executive Director Dayna Ghiradelli calls bees “the unsung heroes and a necessity.”

A local group of beekeepers, honey producers and pollinator business owners and their environmental supporters have been circulating information and a survey questionnaire they hope will lead to a proposed countywide ordinance later this year to regulate the size and amount of commercial honeybee apiaries allowed during pollination season and all other times of the year throughout Sonoma County.

The proposed regulations are modeled after similar ordinances recently adopted elsewhere in California in Placer and Nevada counties. In a series of recent formal dialogues, the group, the Pollinator Advocacy Alliance (PAA), has met with both support and skepticism about the need for any formal action by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors.

The local proposal comes at a time when there has been an alarming increase in honeybee “colony collapse” and die-offs around the world. Bee experts lay the blame on climate change, a rise in pollinator diseases, and increases in populations of predator mites.

The proposed ordinance would not directly address these global impacts but seeks to control the introduction of too many “migratory” commercial hives that increase potential harm and competition to local wild bee populations and to small-scale local honey producers and backyard apiaries.

The background of basic science about ongoing honeybee colony collapse remains somewhat unsettled. But many local backyard beekeepers and others claim the loss of bee populations and threatened hives is real. No one disputes the importance of having healthy populations of honeybees. Without pollinating insects, almost all forms of agriculture would not happen, and the world would be a very hungry place.

Big Ag versus little Ag

The local honeybee population made some news in 2023 when the County of Sonoma considered entering a contract with a commercial apiary company to “host” as many as 120 bee hives at its north county Healdsburg Transfer Station. But small-scale beekeepers protested the potential impact of too many imported hives, and the county withdrew the contract.

At the time, the commercial apiary owner, Trevor Tauzer, of Tauzer Apiary, complained “a few loud voices” were “cherry-picking pseudo science” to support their claims against his style of operation. Tauzer leads a second-generation apiary company that “farms” thousands of beehives across a wide stretch of Northern California. Tauzer has been a western Sonoma County resident and is a current board member of the Sonoma County Farm Bureau (SCFB). (Three calls to Tauzer and his company were not returned for this article.)

The issue of allowing larger-scale commercial apiaries in the county had been simmering until the PAA formed last year and began to circulate their survey and proposed ordinance language. The effort is also being supported by the Sonoma County Beekeepers Association, one of the largest regional beekeeper organizations in the country with almost 400 active members, including a dozen local businesses.

The Beekeepers Association’s current and past presidents Cheryl Koeller and Carol Ellis are both critical of too many “migratory” apiaries being set up in Sonoma County in recent years by out-of-area operators.

“Our board has endorsed the proposed ordinance,” said Ellis. “We have members who have been impacted by these large operations. Our local bee population must compete for water and forage with millions and millions of these introduced bees.”

Ellis also claimed that large commercial apiary operations, which she calls “livestock operations,” also bring added diseases and other stresses to local pollinators.

The Sonoma County Beekeepers Association is 30 years old and conducts seasonal pollinator and garden workshops at local hardware stores, the annual Gravenstein Apple Fair and at local schools.

The draft text of the proposed ordinance would limit the size of individual apiaries to 48 hives. It would require commercial apiaries to be separated by a minimum of three miles. Local beekeepers fear that migratory apiaries import diseases and pests.

Supporters of the ordinance say that Sonoma County has become a popular, off-season, “pollination vacation” site for thousands of commercial beehives from the Central Valley, where almonds and other nut and fruit orchards dominate the ag landscape. Commercial beekeepers bring the bees here to protect them from the valley’s sweltering summer temperatures.

Michael Thiele, of Apis Arborea, a nonprofit advocacy and research institute that promotes “wilding” of bee populations, is a main voice behind the current public campaign for a proposed ordinance.

“The problem is we are facing an ag system (large commercial apiaries) that is based on monoculture. This practice is contributing to catastrophic die-off. It’s impacting our backyard beekeepers and local honey producers,” he said in an interview with The Sebastopol Times. (Sonoma County’s dominant crop of winegrapes are more reliant on wind-borne pollination and not by insects.)

Michael Thiele giving a talk on re-wilding bees.

Apis Arborea is currently partnering with biologists from Sonoma State University (SSU) on field tests at SSU’s Galbreath Wildlands Preserve in Mendocino County near Yorkville. Thiele claims their research has shown that hive die-off is much lower amongst wild bee and native populations compared to nearby commercial apiaries.

“Large commercial apiaries do not represent good stewardship or conservation. It does not favor the well-being of the (honeybee) species,” said Thiele.

Ongoing dialogue efforts

Thiele and others from PAA met with board members of the county Farm Bureau a few months ago.

“They had good questions, and we felt we were listened to,” said Thiele.

Sonoma County Farm Bureau Executive Director Dayna Ghiradelli agreed the meeting was cordial and “open.”

In a response to The Sebastopol Times for this article, Ghiradelli said there are “competing needs” among local farmers and a “balance” must always be the Farm Bureau’s goal in serving its many diverse members.

“We haven’t taken a position on a proposed apiary ordinance,” Ghiradelli said. “We are still gathering information, and we’re not sure if there’s enough of a problem to rise for the need for new ordinances. But we agree that it is an important topic. All our farmers depend on bees. They’re the unsung heroes and a necessity.”

Sonoma County Agricultural Commissioner Andrew Smith agreed with Ghiradelli’s comments.

“I’m not sure whether or not we have a solution searching for a problem,” Smith said. “I certainly think we need to protect our local apiaries, and I would await any direction later from the (county) supervisors.

Smith said the California Department of Food and Agriculture already has laws regulating bee apiary management and honey production. He said currently some of these state laws and registration fees are being updated. “I need to see how these play out before we see if we need a local ordinance. I think it is still too early to say we have a problem that needs our additional action.”

Thiele and other PAA representatives have also met individually with a majority of the county’s Board of Supervisors members. Thiele said the response from the supervisors was “encouraging,” except for comments by south county’s David Rabbit. (Multiple calls to West County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins for this article were not returned.)

A West County perspective

Small farmer and beekeeper Antonio Gutierrez, Jr. thinks there’s a big problem. He owns Russian River Honey and manages about 100 hives in the Sebastopol, Graton and Forestville area.

West County beekeeper Antonio Gutierrez, Jr.

“Right now, I need more space, and I’m worried these bigger guys will take it from me,” said Gutierrez. “They’re bigger than me and more aggressive. And their hives have spread disease and the virus to my hives.”

Gutierrez said he would support a countywide ordinance to control the number of commercial migratory apiaries allowed at any one time.

“I’m looking for new locations right now. I really care about the county, and I want to share my work and my honey. Already, I am working with lots of friendly people,” he said.

Gutierrez sells his honey from a roadside stand in downtown Forestville and south Sebastopol a few days each week. He also trades honey to landowners who let him locate his hives on their property. (See our November 2024 story on Gutierrez.)

Echoes of Measure J?

Some of the people and groups involved in the current discussion about a possible Sonoma County apiary ordinance see in this debate an echo of the divisive and expensive, ag-related debate and campaign over Measure J in November 2024. That measure sought to prohibit large-scale dairy and poultry farm operations known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).

Measure J was soundly defeated by Sonoma County voters with an 85 percent “No” vote. Both sides of the Measure J campaign combined to spend more than $2 million during their ballot battle.

A major difference is that the apiary ordinance proposal is being threshed out within the Ag community in Sonoma County. Although Measure J had some local supporters, the funding and energy for the Yes on J campaign came from national organizations like Direct Action Everywhere, an animal rights advocacy group based in Berkeley.

Koeller and Ellis, leaders of the Sonoma County Beekeepers Association, said they “are more than willing” and expect they will be called upon to provide future public discussions and outreach in the county about their concerns and proposed ordinance. They said future dates would be listed on their website, sonomabees.com.