Denver Official Pushing to Legalize Backyard Beekeeping
For years, hobbyist beekeepers in Denver, Colorado have set up their backyard hives in defiance of a ban on such activities in residential areas. The law was rarely enforced, after all. That changed last June, when an anonymous neighbor phoned in a complaint against beekeeper Marygael Meister. Meister was fined $999 and threatened with possible jail time if she didn't remove her bees.
Meister refused the city's offer of a compromise, which would have required her to apply for a special permit. In light of the crisis of sick and dying honey bees and their importance to our food supply, she wants to insure that bees and beekeepers are protected from such nuisance complaints in the future. Meister is on a mission, and tried to enlist the aid of companies like Smuckers and Haagen-dasz to fight the battle. Her pleas for help fell on deaf ears.
That is, until Denver Councilwoman Peggy Lehmann heard her story and agreed to get involved. Lehmann is drafting new legislation that would permit backyard beekeeping given several conditions. Only two hives would be permitted at the rear of a lot, with a 6-foot high barrier around them. Additionally, beekeepers must supply a water source for their bees, to keep them from seeking water in neighbor's pools and birdbaths.
A few years ago, I completed a beekeeping course myself. The professional apiarists who taught the course at Rutgers University outlined all these measures as common sense, "be kind to your neighbor" beekeeping practices. It's not certain the law will pass, but the city has suspended Meister's case until the verdict is in on the new legislation.
What do you think? Should cities be able to ban backyard beekeeping, or would these limits make it acceptable to you?
Comments
I hope that this passes! People need to wake up and commend others who are out to do some good instead of complaining about them. Are there any enticing tax breaks given to bee keepers?
Tim and I are in the process of creating a significant garden in our backyard in which to grow as much of our own food as is practical. We’ve thought about keeping bees, so this is really interesting to me. Our home is in the “downtown” area of a very sleepy town, and there isn’t anyone close enough to feel threatened, but I could understand if there were, especially if they had children playing outside.
What Debbie said about being kind to your neighbors seems to be the key. You would just have to trust that people would make conscientious decisions in that regard.