Urban beekeeping is legally practiced in several major cities as Ray points out. I believe Long Island is the oldest group. Seattle has a "model beekeeping ordinance". It spells out how many hives, where they can be placed, distance from sidewalks, etc. In general, the hives should be placed where passer-bys don't cross the flight path of the bees. If the lot is small, a solid fence does the trick, since the bees have to fly over the fence and thus over the heads of people. I have seen hives on rooftops, decks, in yards, almost anywhere they can cling. Worst one was on top of a four story house with a very steep roof. A house painter owned them and hung ladders on the roof to get to the hives on a tiny platform. How he managed to move supers full of honey on ladders tied by a rope to a chimney beats me. Another had to jump a five foot gap between two roofs to get to the hives! With the advent of the Africanized bee and the media driven hysteria, we should encourage urban beekeeping. I am beating that in urban areas the Africanized bees will take over as the predominant feral bee. I say this based on reports that the Africanized bees are somewhat mite resistant (to Varroa), the reported ability of Africanized bees to take over cavities from European bees and birds and small animals, etc.; and their less picky nature about what serves as a suitable site to set up housekeeping. By keeping European bees in cities, we maintain some comptetition for cavities, etc. and hopefully a large pool of European drones to mate with Africanzied queens (even if their overall success rate may be poorer than that of Africanized drones, the greater numbers should help). So, I suggest that there should be a big push to educate the media and our urban neighbors about the reasons for keeping bees in cities - other than pollinating fruit trees, flowers, etc. There will always be bees in cities, just which type becomes the question. Best Regards to BEE-L Jerry Bromenshenk The University of Montana [log in to unmask] On Mon, 21 Mar 1994, Ray Lackey wrote: > No Problem! I am a member of The Long Island Beekeepers Club. We have > members from the Bronx to Shelter Island. We have had members keep bees > sixth floor roof in Manhattan. Queens County (New York City) has the > highest yield per hive average of NY state. In Queens, people in row houses re > houses request beekeepers to keep their meanest hives on their roofs to > stop those who would make the rooftops a pathway. > > Our club met yesterday (lessons on mead making and spring management) > but meets the third Sunday of every month. Give me a call if you > would like to visit sometime. > > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > + Raymond J. Lackey + > + Beekeeper 10 years with 25 colonies on Long Island, NY+ > + INTERNET: [log in to unmask] + > + Mail: 1260 Walnut Avenue, Bohemia NY 11617 + > + Home Phone: 516-567-1936 FAX: 516-262-8053 + > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ >