Reader comments
Beekeeper sues official, counties in rights battle

tanast | 6:46 p.m. Oct. 21, 2008

HUH?

Enter nameVernal Roid | 7:23 p.m. Oct. 21, 2008

Can't BEE all just get along?

anotherbeekeeper | 7:28 p.m. Oct. 21, 2008

This happened to me several years ago, the "county inspector" came to check my bees and made several comments about how well the bees were doing in my locations, guess what, a few week later large trucks of the "inspectors bees" and those of his large bee keeping family were moved within a mile of my bees. this cut the nectar for my bees, like too many horses in the pasture. I agree, county officials needs to hire someone with no bees, or some retired small beekeeper from another part of the state.

Comments continue below

Disinterested third party | 8:16 p.m. Oct. 21, 2008

Wonder how much in kickbacks were exchanged in order to get the "right" inspector involved.

Jake | 9:10 p.m. Oct. 21, 2008

You surely can't believe that the two counties involved would actualyy do something that is illegal??? Heck ya,IN A HEARTBEAT, AND LAUGH ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK WITH THE "KICK-BACK"

what a joke | 11:08 p.m. Oct. 21, 2008

I hope that the Cox Family gets what they are asking for in the lawsuit. Cache county is a freaking joke. That inspector should not be allowed to have that job, and should be terminated immediately. That is a gross violation on the Cache Counties part. God Bless the Cox Family.

Sad but true | 8:33 a.m. Oct. 22, 2008

I think this is a sad story of the government trying to hurt the people. Abuse like this is rampant in government. Tragic, but true. Shame on the Chache county government

Anonymous | 8:58 a.m. Oct. 22, 2008

The article failed to mention that Cox's father was the previous county bee inspector for decades and that his brother tried to get the job when it was vacant but was not successful.
Conflict of interest for who? Sour grapes?

I'm ignorant | 10:18 a.m. Oct. 22, 2008

Good to see him get his day in court. Too bad he has to take them to court, when it should be commonsense not to hire someone in a conflict of interest situation.

I'm curious though, what exactly do the "bee inspectors" look for at the inspections?

Small time beekeeper | 12:12 p.m. Oct. 22, 2008

To "I'm Ignorant": The bee inspector checks the hives to insure that the hives are healthy and have no disease or pest. They can order the distruction of badly infected hives or at least treatment and containment.
Bee inspectors are hard to come by but one would think that Cache County, with USU Bee Lab, could certainly find a qualified bee inspector that wasn't a commercial beekeeper. The commercial guys shouldn't be doing the inspecting not only because of cases like this but also who decides if THIER bees are healthy or if THEIR ways of treating the bee diseases is legal and USDA approved. Kind of like the bank having it's own in-house auditors.

Cache valley resident | 4:46 p.m. Oct. 22, 2008

In reply to anonymous; Duane Cox and Melvin Meyers, lifetime beekeepers were the former Cache county bee inspectors and they did this job for many decades as an unpaid service. Suddenly the county decided to hire and pay someone with not as much experience to do the job. Why did the county decide to spend the peoples money to pay someone to do a job that was being done for free?

Happy Valley | 8:58 a.m. Oct. 23, 2008

I wonder at the comment by Cache County Attorney George Daines, We don't know the context of the question, but "we deny the allegation", what part.. Is Martin James the county bee inspector? Is he a commercial beekeeper? and while Mr. Daines is many things, arrogant and ignorant come to mind, he is certainly not stupid. "We talked to him six, seven eight months ago, talked with him repeatedly" and told him what? Can you just imagine that conversation? The Cache County Council, the County Agent and Mr. Daines were all aware of Darren Cox's concerns about Martin James being appointed to a position that is without question a conflict of interest.

So we deny what, that the County acted with complete disregard for the legitimate concerns of a local businessman? Created an obvious conflict of interest, and acted with arrogance and indifference that has led to a lawsuit that will be paid for with County Tax revenues?

Perhaps in a perfect world Cache County could appoint bank examiners, and would hire an officer of Lewiston State Bank to oversee Cache Valley Bank!! And the County could respond to George Daines with, we deny the allegations!!

Unfortunate | 9:55 a.m. Oct. 23, 2008

I know both of these families personally and respect them. Both are a help to hobbiest beekeepers and the community.

I am a little ticked at the two counties for setting up the situation that is causing conflict and contention between two businesses, which will then will spill over to the community as friends and neighbors are forced to take sides.

Incorrect infomation, mud slinging, accusations, abuse of power... this can get ugly and smear both business men's reputations, plus a waste of time and money by all involved, including the tax payers.

I hope Daines gets this cleaned up sooner than later.

South Utah County | 11:27 a.m. Oct. 23, 2008

I'm sure that there are plenty of entimologists out there who are not themselves in the Bee Keeping business who can be trained to inspect and regulate the business in these two counties. Mr. Cox has very valid points of the obvious conflict of interest.

Don't Get It | 4:58 p.m. Nov. 5, 2008

What I don't get from reading all this is if Mr. Cox applied for the same job and didn't get it, is he just mad? Because wouldn't James,the other guy, be in the same situation? And if Cox's dad did it before,maybe there's more to this story that we don't know and aren't hearing and that is why they wanted to hire someone. Did the beekeeper move in on his land? I wonder if we are hearing the full story. Why wasn't Mr. Cox concerned about the conflict of interest when he applied for the job?

unknown | 8:35 a.m. Nov. 7, 2008

this story seems like a pretty onesided story on Mr. Cox's side did we think to ask james what he thought happend i agree with "Don't Get It" there is probably more to the story

Ignernt | 2:22 p.m. Nov. 11, 2008

I too have to go along with "Don't Get it". I wonder why Mr. Cox wasn't concerned about a possible conflict of interest when he applied for the job. And if there is to be a conflict of interest why did his father hold the position previously? I am just gratefull to all of the men and women bee keepers everywhere. Our survival depends on the hard work that they and the bees do.
My husband and I pledge to do our part. 2 hives and learning.

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