People may be able to dye baby chicks for at least a year, as a tradeoff in the state Department of Agriculture’s effort to fight the growth of Africanized honey bees, which have been tagged as "killer bees."

Gov. Rick Scott, speaking on WFLA 850 AM in Fort Lauderdale this week, said he’ll likely sign the wide-ranging agricultural bill, HB 1197, which includes an amendment by Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, that would allow the artificial dyeing and coloring of certain mammals or fowl.

“If I sign, Senator Bogdanoff has said she’ll help me make sure we’ll get it fixed so we won’t have pink chicks,” Scott said. “It’s part of an agricultural bill, so I’ll likely sign it and we’ll fix that one glitch next year.”

Bogdanoff, urged by South Florida groomers, added the amendment that would overturn a 45-year-old prohibition on dyeing pets.

Bogdanoff argued that the groomers want to colorize pets for competitions, not to highlight young critters for holidays.

The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida has argued that the law “has protected thousands of animals from neglect and abuse, and it shouldn’t be lifted on the whim of one dog groomer who wants to dye poodles purple.”

Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam said he has urged Scott to sign the bill, saying the positive help in the legislation geared toward helping beekeepers maintain bee colonies while setting guidelines to help eradicate Africanized bees outweighs the coloring issue.

“Continued support of beekeepers and apiary research is important to everything in nature and everything in agriculture,” Putnam told reporters.

“The issue of whether you can or can’t dye baby chicks should not bring down the rest of the bill. There are some important policies in there.”

The African bees, which have been in Florida since at least 2002, are known to defend their nests with less provocation, in greater numbers and for longer distances than their cousins. They are far more aggressive than bees descended from Europe.

Florida’s $13 million a year honey industry, one of the top five in the nation, is under pressure from African bees, which reduce the forage area for beekeepers’ bees.

To eradicate the African bees, a joint operation by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture places bait hives around Florida’s 14 seaports, Interstate 10 and on the Florida/Alabama border.



Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.