our county

[jayj200]

our county  to get farm assistance requires. fifty hives on an acre

our bee club has started to lobby the county to come in line with what other Fl counties are doing. cool

our old president Al is starting another non profit to teach beekeeping state wide. cool

should other states try this too?

[GDRankin]

50 hives an acre seems pretty extreme to me, but I'm not sure what that acreage looks like or has on it to support bees, so obviously that's pure speculation on my part.

What exactly does the assistance provide and what's the logic and what are the other counties doing? (just curious)
 

[jayj200]

property tax

[Michael Bush]

>50 hives an acre seems pretty extreme to me

It certainly does now...

But here is an excerpt from The Bee Keepers Review, volume 18, 1905

"How Many Colonies Are the Most Profitable in One Location?

"...while Mr. E.W. Alexander (review, page 60 1904) says that overstocking is a myth, and is getting a good average crop from an apiary of 700 colonies, others are of the opinion that not more than 100 or 150 colonies should be kept in one year.

"My experience is that, in many localities, during the main honey flow, where a single variety of honey-plant is present in large quantities, and all these plants are covered with unnumbered blossoms, 1,000 colonies may probably give the same average honey-crop as 100. During this flow especially if the season is a good one, such a locality can hardly be overstocked. The difficulty arises during the light honey-flows in the spring and fall. In the spring a few colonies may gather enough honey for stimulating the bees to brood-rearing--possibly a little more--but a larger number of colonies may not find even enough honey for such stimulation. The consequence is, that such colonies are not in the best condition when the main honey-flow commences, and the average honey-crop...

"...whether it is more profitable to let the bees alone, and keep 100 colonies only in one place, and the same number in several other places, or to keep a larger number in one apiary and do spring and fall feeding, spreading of the brood and several other kinds of 'play work.' I have found it more profitable to start out-apiaries, and I keep my bees now in five yards."--L. Stachelhausen, The Bee Keepers Review, volume 18, 1905

[GDRankin]

That's an interesting bit of info there Mr. Bush. My how things change eh?
Thanks for sharing that with us.

I suppose that the whole "how many hives per acre" is all relative and based on several factors, but yeah I'd think 50 hives per on just basic raw uncultivated land is a bit excessive for the most part. 

In my area, south Texas, there seems to be a bit of interest in this area (ag tax exemption) as of late. Now that I'm advertising "bee services" (removals & hive bodies) on our local craigslist, I've started getting calls from land owners wanting to know if I'll either sell them bee hives or set hives on their land for the purpose of getting an agriculture exemption for their county taxes.

I'm not sure what the old laws were, but evidently Texas revised the law as of 2012 to allow bees for exemptions, (at a different rate perhaps than before?) for property from five to twenty acres. Based on the calls I've received, there seems to be a little fluctuation, per county, as to how many hives per acre are required.

That may be due to the particular county tax assessor's knowledge about bees and the surrounding and what it will support - or lack of knowledge in that area . . . or there may be some formula they use based on the recommendation of the state's apiary department per each section of the state?

Again, most of this is fairly new to me. I'm still learning and much like a dry sponge . . . trying to soak in as much info as I can.  ;)

[GDRankin]

A little more FYI - In case anyone is interested. Here's what the Texas Appraisal District Guide states on the subject:

Agricultural Appraisal
The Texas agricultural exemption is not technically an exemption. It is a county appraisal district assessment valuation based on agricultural use. Therefore, it is actually an agricultural appraisal. Landowners may apply for this special appraisal status based on their land's productivity value rather than on what the land would sell for on the open market. Typically, a productivity value is lower than the market value, which results in a lower property tax. Landowners must use their land for agriculture. There is a rollback tax for taking agricultural land out of its productivity use.

Property owners may qualify for an agricultural appraisal status if their land meets the following criteria:

    The land must be devoted principally to agricultural use. Agricultural use includes producing crops, livestock, poultry, fish, or cover crops. It also can include leaving the land idle for a government program or for normal crop or livestock rotation. Land used for raising certain exotic animals (including exotic birds) to produce human food or other items of commercial value qualifies.

    TheUsing land for wildlife management is an agricultural use, if such land was previously qualified open-space land and is actively used for wildlife management. Wildlife management land must be used in at least three of seven specific ways to propagate a breeding population of wild animals for human use.

    Agricultural land must be devoted to production at a level of intensity that is common in the local area.

    The land must have been devoted to agricultural production for at least five of the past seven years. However, land within the city limits must have been devoted continuously for the preceding five years, unless the land did not receive substantially equal city services as other properties in the city.

If land receiving an agricultural appraisal changes to a non-agricultural use, the property owner who changes the use will owe a rollback tax. The rollback tax is due for each of the previous five years in which the land received the lower appraisal. The rollback tax is the difference between the taxes paid on the land's agricultural value and the taxes paid if the land had been taxed on its higher market value. Plus, the owner pays 7 percent interest for each year from the date the taxes would have been due.

[johng]

According to the state BMP's (best management practice)  your not supposed to have that many hives on an acre.  What do you mean by farm assistance? Are you trying to get your property taxes lowered because you keep bees? I successfully got an agricultural exemption for my property last year here in Duval Co.   

[Eric Bosworth]

The libertarian in me says that there should be no subsidies for anything. Cut taxes and more important spending across the board and let people keep their money up front. That said, 50 hives an acre seems pretty high to me. But that does depend on the acre in question. In the desert of Nevada that would be likely to have 50 dead hives in pretty short order. In someplace with lots of flowers... More hives would probably be fine. The other thing that isn't being mentioned is when the flowers are in bloom. Where I live during the golden rod flow in the right location 50 hives would be easy to support.... During the months of August and September.... What about the rest of the year?

[jayj200]

in NY it is five then you get help (farm asist) not required an acre

note bees a deamed livestock