Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: Curtammy on May 01, 2011, 02:53:40 pm
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Anyone had any problems with their neighbors bitching about bees in their yard and that you need to move the hives, blah, blah, blah?
We have a neighbor that starts things with everyone. We all have 5 acre lots here and to my south touching our land in about 800,000 acres of BLM land with no one on it. But this neighbor is saying she's going to get a lawyer to make me remove all my hives. Which i dont believe she can do honestly. And im not about to give her any satisfaction in any way. So i added 2 more hives for her.
Really it doesnt matter where i put the hives. The bees are going to go where they want anyways.
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But this neighbor is saying she's going to get a lawyer to make me remove all my hives. Which i dont believe she can do honestly. And im not about to give her any satisfaction in any way. So i added 2 more hives for her.
Check to see if there are any beekeeping ordinances on the books for your area ---- you never know. I would think with a five acre lot you could at least own a few colonies but take nothing for granted since she has complained!
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Check your city,county Laws if they are on your side
I would just ignore her and keep going.
If there is a gray area I would look a bit more
The lousey part is, anyone can/will use a lawyer
It costs both sides :evil:
Hope its in your favor if it gets that far
I would think with 5 acres and all the BLM land
she could have a chance in a court but
Bill Clinton never had sex :-D by court ruling :roll:
That pretty much showed me a lot about the courts
Do you have a local Bee Club they will know the law
Good Luck
welcome to Beemaster good folks and good educational info
Tommyt
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In most areas bees are livestock suitable for agricultural areas.If you are in an agricultural district,chances are they are permitted. Best to check with local codes people though.If the law is in your favor,keep it that way.The neighbors could push to get it changed and then use the new law to shut you down.
If you have bees legally now,it is likely they will be grandfathered if a rule change occurs.
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someone posted here a while ago that they told their complaining neighbor that all of his bees had collars on and if the bees she saw did not have a collar than it was not his. It was quite the funny post!
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Haha, i really like that one. Bee collars! If it does go that far, I will fight the law from beeing changed. (haha, play on words there. For all the corny jokers!) Beekeepers have enough problems. People just do not understand the importance of bees i suppose. And I was hoping to go commercial once I feel more comfortable with it. Northern Nevada has no Honey bee companies here. And we produce more potatoes then anywhere in the North Western US now. Along with mint, Alfalfa. So getting bigger and putting out hives would be easy here. Just need to get a few more hives. How many hives can you put in a given area, anyone know? Have a formula for it or like 2 hives per acre type thing. Thanks for the feedbacks all!
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How many hives can you put in a given area, anyone know? Have a formula for it or like 2 hives per acre type thing.
It depends on the amount of forage in the area. Most here limit a yard to 25-30 colonies if the forage will support them.
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Limit a yard to 25-30 colonies? You mean that many colonies per 1 acre then? There's alot of sage brush here and we have lots of peoples yards with trees and gardens also. And there's a nice size creek not to far away with alot of trees and such there too.
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You can keep as many hives in a yard as you wish. Will they make you as much honey? Will you have to feed? I limit most of my yards to 80-100 and only that many during a strong flow. During a dearth or even a slow flow you'll have to feed. It is very possible to over saturate an area with bees which becomes counterproductive.
Scott
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Yeah i was just tryin to figure out how many hives i can put per field. One of my friends owns around 100 alfalfa pivot fields. The one pivot rotates a 1 mile area. So the pivot is half a mile long. I had no idea how many hives to put out there. Was going to start with 5 and see how it does.
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Anyone had any problems with their neighbors bitching about bees in their yard and that you need to move the hives, blah, blah, blah?
We have a neighbor that starts things with everyone. We all have 5 acre lots here and to my south touching our land in about 800,000 acres of BLM land with no one on it. But this neighbor is saying she's going to get a lawyer to make me remove all my hives. Which i dont believe she can do honestly. And im not about to give her any satisfaction in any way. So i added 2 more hives for her.
Really it doesnt matter where i put the hives. The bees are going to go where they want anyways.
yes there definity quite a bit of state laws regarding bee keeping. so you may not want to open that can of worms up. i would move hives away from them if you can, 5 acre should not be a problem. and dont forget bees fly high when they leave hive. so if its 10to15 feet away from property line, they should not even notice them. mine are 50 feet from my back door and I dont even know I have hives unless i walk up to them. well except for bee crap on truck lol. just give them some honey and let them know how your helping environment
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When you put 25 to 30 hives in an area, they will cover approx. 80,000 acres. The bees from a hive do not stay on the acre they are on. They go 2 to 3 miles in every direction. The 25 to 30 per yard means no two yards within 5 miles of each other.
As for the neighbor, move your hives out of sight and place some empty hives where they are now. Tell her to bring the sheriff out anytime she wants. When he sees the empties and has a few choice words for her, she will suddenly become very quiet.
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Strong fences (and big guns) make for good neighbors.
Scott
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Curtammy,
You should talk to your friend who owns the alfalfa fields and see how long he plans to let the alfalfa bloom before he cuts it. Most ranchers around me let the alfalfa bloom less than 10 days and then it is cut. The bees will only have a brief time to collect the nectar. If the alfalfa is allowed to go to seed, the bees have more time to work it. I have a friend with a 10 acre alfalfa field and he lets the second crop go to seed and I move a few hives onto his land. Last year it was in bloom until the first hard frost in mid-October and my bees benefited greatly.
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MTWI is correct, Farmers cut there alfalfa when it is in bud stage.[Just before it blooms] This is when it has the most protein and makes the best feed.
John
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iddee I like like this
As for the neighbor, move your hives out of sight and place some empty hives where they are now. Tell her to bring the sheriff out anytime she wants. When he sees the empties and has a few choice words for her, she will suddenly become very quiet.
I live in a poor honey area you can put about 7 to 10 hives.
BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)
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One thought has been over looked.
With todays restricted developments the covenants of the development might preclude beehives just as they have targeted hanm radio antennas, certain types of pets, etc. Even 5 acre developments have been know to have restrictive covenants.
For cities and communities that have ordances allowing beekeeping most have a hive per lot size ratio that allows a given number of hives per total square footage of the lot. In my area that ratio starts out with a 50X75 ft lot allowing 1 hive, a 75X100 ft lot 2 hives, a quarter acre lot 3 hives and a lot of 1 acre or more 6-10 hives depending on available setbacks.
Another restriction might be setbacks from the property line. Usually if there is a setback of less than 25 ft then a fence is required to force the bees overhead of path and roadways. More than 25 ft and there is no fence requirement. At 10 ft or less a fence and signage are often required.
I live on 1.5 acres, my bees are contained in a fenced and signed (all 4 sides) bee yard at least 50 feet from any property line, and according to city ordinance I can have 10 hives on my property. My family has owned the property since 1974, when it was zoned agricultural and all livestock and bees are grandfathered in due to zoning changes. I have purposely exceeded the restrictions of the ordinance for any possible liability issues.
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Excellent question curtammy, one that I was going to ask as well lol. Growing we had these neighbors that moved in who were both lawyers put fences up on the property lines, bitched about everything and the best part...were the head of the zoning commission in town so that was very pleasant...NOT!!! I was looking up the laws here in Connecticut, looks like you have to register your hive/s and allow for inspection from the state entomologist and stuff, and in my town you have to have your hive at least a 100 feet away from anyone else's property lines. Still looking into everything. The only thing that I don't want to happen is someone that is highly allergic die from any bees I may own in the future!
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Excellent question curtammy, one that I was going to ask as well lol. Growing we had these neighbors that moved in who were both lawyers put fences up on the property lines, bitched about everything and the best part...were the head of the zoning commission in town so that was very pleasant...NOT!!! I was looking up the laws here in Connecticut, looks like you have to register your hive/s and allow for inspection from the state entomologist and stuff, and in my town you have to have your hive at least a 100 feet away from anyone else's property lines. Still looking into everything. The only thing that I don't want to happen is someone that is highly allergic die from any bees I may own in the future!
Do you put tags in the bee's ears to make sure if someone gets stung you know yours did it?
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Do you recon they could DNA a bee sting to determind who belongs to the bee? :?
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Do you recon they could DNA a bee sting to determind who belongs to the bee? :?
Yes they can!! Yes they have!! they all come from God who placed them in the Bee tree
I hope someone writes a book with that as a title God and the Bee tree
Tommyt
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Personally, I think that was a legitimate question that deserved a decent answer, not a wise crack.
I would like to know just how far down the ladder they could go with dna testing.
Italian from russian?
carniolan fron caucasion?
Individual line of queens?
hive to hive?
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Im not sure if different strains would carry a different dna signature or not, but as far as beekeeper liability is concerned, I dont think it would be a real far stretch for an attorney to make on a civil suit. It wouldnt be a criminal suit where one would have to have a smoking gun fora conviction. A bee sting civil suit would be held to 'preponderance of the evidence' where dna probably wouldnt even come into play after a picture of the neighbors hives was produced. Let alone some good bearding pics or swarm in the neighbors apple tree. Not a frightful thing to beeks, but to a ticked off neighbor and a retained lawyer,they may speak volumes.
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Im not sure if different strains would carry a different dna signature or not, but as far as beekeeper liability is concerned, I dont think it would be a real far stretch for an attorney to make on a civil suit. It wouldnt be a criminal suit where one would have to have a smoking gun fora conviction. A bee sting civil suit would be held to 'preponderance of the evidence' where dna probably wouldnt even come into play after a picture of the neighbors hives was produced. Let alone some good bearding pics or swarm in the neighbors apple tree. Not a frightful thing to beeks, but to a ticked off neighbor and a retained lawyer,they may speak volumes.
That's why it's important to meet or exceed local zoning restrictions in your bee yards. You have to show you've complied with existing ordinances along with showing you have taken sufficient precautions to reduce exposure to other people. That's why mine are enclosed within a 5 foot wire fence, signed (beware-Bee Hives), and located at least 50ft from the nearest property line.
Last line of defense is that you are providing a service (pollenation) directed by mother nature and that no one is liable for acts of nature such as getting Struck by lightening, drowning in a flood, falling off a cliff, or getting stung by a bee except the victim.
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Brain ya know the more you do to make sure people know about them it seems like the more trouble it is. Teenagers tipping over hives etc. It seems like as a beekeeper unless your out in the boonies like me your in a lose lose crap shoot. Especially around here it seems most people are more concerned with trying to kill stuff especially things like snakes and stinging insects then they are with just leaving them alone.