Having heard of the plight of honeybees in your hometown I'd like to add my
2 cents to the contributions made to your city council.

The same -exact- argument was recently  brought before Denver's largest
suburb, Aurora.  The council was charged with the opportunity to outlaw
honeybees as "pests" just as pitbulls and rattlesnakes because a resident
whom cried (literally) about her bee-sting allergy.

Let's get right to the argument.  Should an ENTIRE city be held ransom
against gardening, small wildlife and landscaping efforts lost of those that
would otherwise beautify their city?  All because of 1 in 100,000 whom might
have an allergy, and whom might get stung by a honeybee?

Let me tell you exactly how selfish that person is.  Look up "bee-sting
desensitization".  That same 1 in 100,000 with the allergy can pay to have
THEIR reaction tamed so they're no longer at risk.

So the whole town should stop gardening?  Stop planting apples?  Plums?
Pumpkins?  On the off chance that someone with an allergy should trip over a
honeybee hive and knock it to the ground - which is about what you'd have to
do with most honeybees as we all know they're defensive beasts & rarely on
the level of their aggressive counterparts:  hornets, wasps, yellow-jackets
& others.

Once honeybees are removed the remaining wild and 'aggressive' stinging
insects won't know there's a law that bans their activities.  What you WILL
accomplish with a law banning beekeepers/honeybees is a complete upset of a
balanced ecosystem.  People in cities -introduce- gardens, flowers and fruit
trees,  - because they add beauty and food.  Food for themselves, seed and
food for small wildlife.  Simply for the natural beauty of an plum tree in
bloom during spring.
Honeybees are a natural part of that system and are irreplaceable in numbers
to set the fruit and seed both for humans, birds, squirrels, etc.  Honeybees
are a necessary part of city landscape and wildlife maintenance.  In
moderation, cities ARE the best place for honeybees - or tell the opposite
to all the gardeners, landscapers whom "live" for their weekends in their
gardens.   & then run off to tell the other hundreds whom don't garden but
DO appreciate the efforts of those that share home-grown fruit to neighbors
and help beautify their city.  Pass the honeybee-ban ordinance and put the
needs of -one- person ahead of an entire city because that person won't pay
to solve their own allergy, and tell the gardeners their efforts won't be
rewarded.
 And then let's discuss the fact that gardeners and people whom benefit from
gardening are voters too..

In the past 5-8 years, cities all over have been displacing old bee-ban
statutes keeping in line with the times.  What's changed?  Prior to 1993-95
in most parts of the U.S. you could count on wild honeybees pollinating most
gardens and fruit trees.  With the absolute destruction of wild honeybees
with Varroa (mite whom feed off the 'baby' bees and eventually kill the
hive) there are NO feral hives of any significance to do the huge job of
pollinating needed in every city.  Count yourself lucky if you reside within
a 2 or 3-mile radius of a local beekeeper.

Once informed to the plight of our honeybees and the needs of our landscape
and gardens, cities are instead advancing the effort of beekeeping.  Some
are fostering the skill (Golden, Colorado) and acknowledge that beekeepers
provide an invaluable service to the surrounding landscape and vegetation.

Council members likely won't find the truth concerning honeybees to vote an
educated decision if left to finding information on their own .  Like
"monsters", the "dark" and scary movies there are many people whom harbor
ill-will, place obstacles and pass laws based on "fears" vs. simple facts.
As beekeepers it's our job to provide assistance and information to those
whom would pass laws without the necessary information in front of them.
With varroa, the alternative is to 'live' in a city with fewer birds, less
squirrels, and certainly unhappy gardeners.
Ask me sometime about the story of the $100 cucumber... (or figure it out on
your own... lack of pollination).

To get back to my introduction, (~2002) the city of Aurora entertained a
lengthy process from a number of sources for information and testimony  -- &
resulted in a complete about-face on the issue once they found out about
'desensitization' therapy for the complaining individual.  Aurora instead
allowed honey-bees specifically by ordinance where previously they weren't
mentioned.  you can find several references to the Aurora review of
honeybees from here on Bee-L.  I would encourage those council members to
seek out the thoughts, subjects and objections brought before OTHER city
councils as it's sure to provide them with a valuable third party avenue for
opinion and  unbiased information.  I know for certain both the city of
Aurora and Golden have recently reviewed (and passed) beekeeping ordinances
here in Colorado.  My home town of Castle Rock visited the issue and passed
the initiative but a city planner sabotaged our efforts by writing the law
to include a 'fee' for "site evaluation" of sorts, which later turned out to
be $1200 and of which at least one of the council members informed the local
rag they were equally put off by the fee.  Council members can't see
everything coming... including those that work directly under them (going
back to those that work off 'fear' will sometimes sabotage the efforts of
those that would choose to work from facts & truth).

Matthew Westall
"E-Bees"
     //        Earthling Bees
 >8(())))-     "Take me to your feeder"
     \\        Castle Rock, CO,  USA

----- Original Message -----
From: "Matthew Shepherd (Xerces Society)" <[log in to unmask]>
People may already be aware of this proposed bee ban, but in case you are
not, here are a couple of news stories published today.
Matthew

**************************************
From: North Central Ohio
The city of Crestline is proposing an ordinance that would prohibit
beekeeping within the city limits. This decision has created a firestorm of
tension between the town's only beekeeper and the city. David Duncan has
been a beekeeper for more than 20 years. He has bee hives near his home and
throughout north central Ohio. A resident who lives near Duncan and is
allergic to bees,

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::