Keep bees near sewage treatment plant?

[sterling]

I do not know if smells would effect the bees but I would think the chemicals in the sewer could make the honey taste bad. :evil:

[capt44]

Making the honey taste bad would be determined by what the city council eat.

[Better.to.Bee.than.not]

maybe someone should start a bee keepers activism group, to where when such ordinances are mentioned and as a group people try to send in letters and be active against it. even if it isn't in their community, when such ordinances are passed in some, others often then follow suit.

[sc-bee]

Making the honey taste bad would be determined by what the city council eat.

 :lau:

[RHBee]

maybe someone should start a bee keepers activism group, to where when such ordinances are mentioned and as a group people try to send in letters and be active against it. even if it isn't in their community, when such ordinances are passed in some, others often then follow suit.

I don't think that's a bad idea. In this crazy world we live in it seems that the people who are outspoken get attention. With the well known plight of the honeybee and it's importance as a pollinator you would think that municipalities would encourage and welcome beekeepers.
Everything should be done in moderation. I don't think someone should be able to keep 20 colonies on a small subdivision lot but 3 or 4 wouldn't hurt anything.
The honeybee doesn't fall in the domesticated animal group. You can't train them to do your bidding. They are just bugs. Wonderful very beneficial bugs but still just bugs. I can understand ordinances against domestic livestock like chickens and such. Barnyards can have some pretty special smells and noises.
I guess you could point to the importance of pollinators in our food chain and draw comparisons to recycling, reducing carbon emissions or saving the whales. You really aren't keeping bees your facilitating bees to survive in an environment that seems bent on their destruction.

[danno]

I think Brians point #4 & 5 would give you the biggest hammer.   There is a bunch of usefull info at Wikipedia.   Here is the link  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_beekeeping
Also the honey next to my hog barn tastes exactly the same and the 3 other yards that I have spread out over the 10 mile area that I live in

[RHBee]

Thanks for the link danno. Good read.

[OldMech]

I live outside my town limits, but RIGHT on the border with 43 acres of my own, 300 acres family owned. I had the mayor come talk to me about my bees. he wanted me to move them, I told him no. He said he could contact the county if he had to.. I said My hives are registered with the state. If pushed, I could contact four different beekeeping associations nearby and bring the case to the state, and that I was willing to fund the fight.
   He calmed down, and we talked for about two hours.. part of that time while wandering around the hives....   I know its a bit unfair.. but I caught a drone and handed it to him. Explained that bees are not aggressive away from their hive.
   He went away with a new perspective.
   There are a lot of weapons and ammunition you can use to dispel the fears of the council, but as you already said, the squeaky wheel gets the oil, so speak up. get your ducks in a row, and make an appearance. Call in help from other local beeks. Many in the local clubs here would dearly LOVE to fight for their hobby/business.

   We live in SE Iowa.. A few years ago, the newly elected council decided that having Big trucks, and  tractors with wagons full of grain sitting along the highway waiting to pull into the elevator was a bad thing, so they tried to make them use the side streets..   The farmers wives/families inundated the town with a petition that proposed the city council had to wear a clown outfit when performing official duties..   with a population of 480, they got almost a thousand signatures.  It brought an important point to the forefront of knowledge in the new councils minds.
    You can accomplish a lot if you have the determination. 

[sterling]

I think Brians point #4 & 5 would give you the biggest hammer.   There is a bunch of usefull info at Wikipedia.   Here is the link  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_beekeeping
Also the honey next to my hog barn tastes exactly the same and the 3 other yards that I have spread out over the 10 mile area that I live in

Your hog barn is a lot cleaner then a sewage treatment plant. Think of the chemicals involved in treating sewer and all the drugs people take and all the deceases they have that is passed into the sewer. A few years ago in Murfressboro Tn. they were using the sludge from the treatment plant to put on pastures but the rule was it had to set for seven years before cows could pasture it. I would not want my bees using a sewer treatment plant to gather there nectar or pollen. But I would be OK if they were gathering from blooms around a pig pen.

[sc-bee]

Also the honey next to my hog barn tastes exactly the same and the 3 other yards that I have spread out over the 10 mile area that I live in

Come on dude you no fun.  Surely it leaves an after taste  :-D

[OldMech]

Also the honey next to my hog barn tastes exactly the same and the 3 other yards that I have spread out over the 10 mile area that I live in

Come on dude you no fun.  Surely it leaves an after taste  :-D

   LOL   Only if the breeze is blowing from the Confinement toward the house when you taste the honey. :)

[Bee Curious]

As this is viewable to all online, I won't go into details, but you can read about what happened re: the ordinance here:
Article


Don't believe everyone quoted here.  You know who I mean.

[Solomon Parker]

Aha, finally my hobby as a beekeeper and my employment as a wastewater engineer come in to play!

That being said, a waste water plant is not that big of a deal.  Sure, some of them smell bad, but odor control is becoming more common every day.  Bees aren't going to be able to find any less nasty water anywhere else, they'll drink out of any cesspool they can find unless it kills them.  And honey is naturally antibacterial. 

[sc-bee]

Is that beecurious in the last two photos? This part don't sound too promising:

>Counard said that one regulation will likely require that neighbors on both sides agree to the resident maintaining beehives on their property.

[MsCarol]

This part don't sound too promising:

>Counard said that one regulation will likely require that neighbors on both sides agree to the resident maintaining beehives on their property.

But is beats an all out ban. Sadly those neighbors with the allergic child will most likely never listen to reason, including the fact that the boy carry and learn to use the epi-pen on himself as soon as he is able. There are far more other stinging insects out there in the real world then the honey bees. My guess is one or both parents are afraid themselves.
I doubt it sank in that the hive is also getting larger as the summer progresses is partially because the bees are storing honey.

It does sound like it was a well laid out argument in FAVOR of bee keeping. I applaud the effort to educate all those present. Although the idea of a community bee yard isn't a bad one, I can also see it a recipe for vandals to do a whole lot of damage to a number of beeks in a short span of time. Would the city support the cost of insuring those hives against such a possibility?

[OldMech]

No lawyer by any stretch.. but I do wonder about the ability to MAKE you remove existing. I can understand disallowing NEW hives, but existing should be grandfathered???
   I know that we had farmers with animals within the city limits, as some pastures extended into town. we had some City folks move into an adjacent lot, and they cited the Iowa code that states no livestock could be kept within a cities limits. They were blown out of the water, because those pastures have had cattle/sheep in them since before that code was put into effect, so the city/state, could NOT make them remove them...   I have no clue if it would carry to bees, as they are not... technically??? Livestock?

[sterling]

[MsCarol]

I SOOOO WANT that sign!!!!

Several years back we did have complaints by drive-bys over the livestock having sex in the open - both cattle and horses. We ended up having to move the stock away from the highway to give the beleaguered sheriff a break.

[danno]

We have a different growing problem here in Michigan.  Home owners insurance companies are canceling policies with hives on the properties.   

[Santa Caras]

"we did have complaints by drive-bys over the livestock having sex in the open - both cattle and horses"

Seriously???? really??? people today are just too urbanized. When we run out of oil and everyone goes back to the horse-n-buggy again it will be a real shocker for em, ya think?