Update - Palm Bay, FL Ban on Beekeeping

After an hour long discussion, the Palm Bay city council ruled to uphold its ban on beekeeping in the Florida city. Backyard beekeeper Michelle Provencal will not be allowed to keep her domesticated honey bees, despite the testimony of bee experts on her behalf.

Provencal was charged with a code violation for her backyard hive after a neighbor reported being stung by a bee. She's been fighting to keep her bees, arguing her hive benefits the community by keeping Africanized bees at bay and by pollinating flowers in neighbors' gardens. Several bee experts and the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture tried to persuade the Palm Bay council to rule in Provencal's favor.

Council member Michele Paccione, the only dissenting vote, thinks it's time for Palm Bay to change its laws to allow such hobbyist beekeeping activities. She's hoping to introduce new legislation that would allow Provencal and other city residents to keep honey bees on their properties. Let's hope she can get 'r done.

More on Honey Bees:

• Workers, Drones, and a Queen
• The Waggle Dance and Other Ways Honey Bees Talk
• 10 Possible Causes for the Disappearance of Honey Bees