A ban on beekeeping in nature reserves, with buffer zones of 1.0 km
Some cantons have already banned managed honey bees from nature reserves in principle. There are, however, neither effective instruments nor sufficient resources to enforce the corresponding regulations — and probably, for that reason, little official will to do so either.
IG Wilde Biene therefore calls for existing protection regulations to be applied consistently and — where none have yet been defined — for a general ban on beekeeping in all nature reserves in the country. Because honey bees are mobile and cover 3 km and more on their foraging flights, a buffer zone free of honey bees of at least one kilometre around nature reserves rich in wild pollinators is also necessary.
Sustainable honey bee densities in sub-areas
The use of wild animals and wild plants in the landscape is to be sustainable and practised in such a way that biodiversity is not harmed. Hunting and fishing are therefore subject to corresponding regulation, which is not the case for beekeeping.
As with the issuing of fishing and hunting permits, a permit requirement must be introduced for setting up honey bee apiaries. The density of apiaries and colonies must in each case be matched to local ecological conditions.
An expert commission appointed by IG Wilde Biene is to define maximum figures for honey bee colonies (for example per km²) for the various landscape types and altitudinal zones. The expert commission is made up of specialists from all the interest groups concerned.
A permit requirement for apiaries and colonies
If controlling and regulating honey bee density is to be possible at all, a permit requirement for keeping honey bee colonies must be introduced and enforced.
The requirement that exists today to register bee keeping with the local veterinary office serves solely to implement the Animal Diseases Act. No qualitative or quantitative assessment of the sites is made in terms of environmental and nature conservation, and communication between the offices involved (for example the veterinary office and the nature conservation unit) is likewise absent. Introducing and enforcing a permit requirement for beekeepers is the indispensable basis for regulating domesticated honey bee populations and thereby for protecting wild bees.