MBA Members,
We are happy to be able to share some good news! Thanks to those of you that sent letters of support and/or helped with funds for a lobbyist, this week we learned that we were successful at getting Anita Deeley on to the Mosquito Control for the Twenty-First Century Task Force (Task Force) established in Chapter 120 of the Acts of 2020 (“An Act to Mitigate Arbovirus in the Commonwealth”).
It was critical that beekeepers had representation on this Task Force. Over the next year or so, the Task Force will study the Commonwealth’s mosquito control process and recommend comprehensive reforms of the current mosquito control system. As the Chair of the Pesticide Committee for the Massachusetts Beekeepers Association (Mass Bee) and now a member of the Task Force, Anita will be able to represent beekeepers and make sure that bee health is considered in developing the future mosquito control system. Updates provided by Anita will be shared with Mass Bee Members.
This appointment is also significant in that a beekeeper/ the beekeeping industry has historically under-represented at the State legislative level. With Anita as a member of the Task Force we have an energetic, knowledgeable, and professional representative working on our behalf.
Please join us in congratulating Anita (pesicidecommittee@massbee.org).
Stay well,
Peter Delaney
President, Massachusetts Beekeepers Association