On Tue, 28 Nov 1995, Mike Beluch wrote:
 
>      Their response: Overwhelmingly negative ! :-(
>      One person actually compared keeping bees to keeping poisonous snakes !!
 
Hi,
 
I guess you could suggest keeping poisonous snakes, then back-down
to just keeping bees <G>.
 
Seriously, my own rules!
 
1. Keep well behaved bees and manage them carefully.
 
2. Use fences or screens to lift the bees above head height.
 
3. Supply water or they'll find it in the neighbour's pool.
 
4. Have somewhere available that you can easily move them (the bees)
   if they turn nasty (the bees or the neighbours :-).
 
Some other thoughts. If you keep them out of sight and more than,
say, 50ft from a neighbour, they'll probably never know they're
there.  Bees do well and (I'm told) behave better about 10 to 12
feet above the ground -- the kind of height they'd choose for
themselves.  Bees are often quietest if kept in a bee house, which
is also a convenient (if more expensive) place for the beekeeper.
 
Regards,
--
Gordon Scott   [log in to unmask]   Hampshire, England.
               [log in to unmask]
               Beekeeper; Kendo 3rd Dan; Sometime sailor.
The Basingstoke Beekeeper (newsletter) [log in to unmask]