CATCH THE BUZZ - Disaster Sign Up Due

CATCH THE BUZZ 

ELAP DISASTER PROGRAM APPLICATION DEADLINE DECEMBER 10, 2009

From the ABF Web Page, Dec 4, 2009

---

Protein feeding pays off with better bee health, better survival, better production, and better wintering.  Learn More.

Find out What’s New At Mann Lake right Here

 

Any beekeeper interested in applying for aid through the ELAP program – Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees and Farm-Raised Fish Program – must make application by December 10, 2009, at their County Farm Service Agency Office (FSA). This application covers losses in 2008 and in 2009 through September 10 for commercial colonies.

The ELAP continues until October 1, 2011. After this initial period, losses must be reported to FSA within 30 days of discovery.

The ABF Legislative Committee is working with USDA to improve the regulations; however, the deadline will stand and applications must be filed by the deadline in the beekeeper’s headquarters county. Interested beekeepers are urged to apply to meet the December 10 deadline, then work with the FSA office to perfect their claims as new instructions are developed in Washington.

Additionally, beekeepers must be enrolled in the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) to qualify for the ELAP.

Eligible losses are feed being raised for bees and losses of colonies or beehives. The feed losses must be for feed intended as feed for the producer’s bees. In either case, the losses must be due to adverse weather or other eligible loss condition.

To be eligible for a loss of bees due to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), the beekeeper must provide documentation to support that CCD was the cause. An acceptable document includes, but is not limited to, a CCD certification by a registered entomologist, Cooperative Extension specialist or Land Grant University.

The above is a general summary of the current regulations. More information is available from the FSA county office. The full regulations were published in the Federal Register on September 11, 2009, beginning on page 46665.

This message brought to you by Bee Culture, The Magazine Of American Beekeeping,   

Subscribe to Malcolm Sanford’s Apis Newsletter right here

 

For a comprehensive listing of beekeeping events around the country and around the globe, check out Bee Culture’s Global Beekeeping Calendar