# Ky bee keepers.



## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Partisan Ag Commissioner Fires Kentucky State Apiarist


Politics Comes To The Bee Hive


Alan Harman





Kentucky beekeepers are shocked by the political firing of veteran state apiarist Phil Craft, who had held the job for 12 years under both Democratic and Republican commissioners.


WFPL radio quotes new Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, a Republican, as saying he is not eliminating Kentuckyâs beekeeping program, even though Craft was given his walking papers from the politically appointed position.


Comer laid off 16 of the departmentâs political appointees, including Craft.


Comerâs office tells the radio station the new agricultural tsar says he wants to appoint his own people to these positions.


WFPL says the dismissal of an experienced, nationally recognized and admired apiarist is raising eyebrows in the agricultural community and has people asking why the state beekeeper is a politically appointed position.


Apiculture researcher Tom Webster says Craft was great at his job.


âI was involved in the interviews for that position and I recommended that Phil get the job because he had the attitude and the energy and the background and everything, so I was very happy that he did step in,â Webster tells WFPL.


âHe really made beekeeping a whole lot better in the state, because he was involved in a lot of outreach, and education.â


Reaction around the state was immediate.


âHad I known Commissioner Comer would eliminate the state's most effective member of the beekeeping community, he would not have received my vote,â one person posted on the WFPL website. âWhere was Comer when the CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder) hit America ?â


Another says beekeepers in Kentucky will suffer.


Lorie Flynn Jacobs of Indiana State University posts that Craft not only has the knowledge, he has passion.


âYou can tell when he speaks to novice and experienced beekeepers alike, he really loves beekeeping and teaching folks all about what he has learned,â Jacobs posts.


âHe traveled all over Kentucky , advising beekeepers how they can do things better. He has helped us out a lot in Louisville , and he will be sorely missed. I would love to invite Mr. Comer to the Kentuckiana Beekeepers Association meeting in February so that he can share what plans he's made for leadership in this area. I know he won't find anyone more qualified and passionate than Phil, but I want to hear his plans just the same.â


And, when WFPL went asking, they were not able to find any other state that made the State Apiarist a Political position. Kentucky seems unique in this appointment. 


 Al


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## Scooby308 (Apr 18, 2011)

alleyyooper said:


> And, when WFPL went asking, they were not able to find any other state that made the State Apiarist a Political position. Kentucky seems unique in this appointment.
> 
> 
> Al




Everything in this state is politics. Try getting a teaching job and making it to tenure if you know no one in the county. I am one of the lucky few who has managed that feet.


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