(Here is a late July 2022West Newsmagazine article that generated so much attention both online and in print, that is led to a follow up article just one month later!)
Honeybees and other pollinators are declining in numbers.
Exactly one month after the start of National Pollinator Week (June 20-26) Ellisville City Council member Vince McGrath (District 1) offered a vastly different side of bees during the council's July 20 work session.
McGrath said he received a rather detailed complaint in one of his district’s neighborhoods about residents with a pool getting stung by bees. Not knowing exactly how to handle the negative buzz, McGrath admitted he felt obligated to delve more deeply into the subject. So, he did a good deal of research.
“It turns out the bees really like chlorinated water,” McGrath said.
He added that “beekeeper etiquette" would be for the keepers to talk to their neighbors. Then, he offered more information about bees, such as "the average hive has about 30,000 bees in it."
"There are some that forage for food; others forage for water," McGrath noted. "From what I’ve read, a hive of bees can go through several liters of water a day. Of course, with a very close water source, this can be a problem.”
McGrath said he constantly has bees hanging around his own bird bath. He added that when he sprays them with water, they get aggravated, but he’s never been stung. However, he admitted he also has never gone swimming with them.
“One of the big concerns is that they don’t know when somebody comes to their pool if they are allergic to bees,” McGrath said of the residents who had reached out to him.
He requested that the council to look into legislation that would amend its current beekeeping regulations. His proposed changes are:
• Require beekeepers to provide a water source for the hives/bees.
• If a property measures less than 1/3 of an acre, the maximum number of hives allowed would be three.
• If the beekeeper's property is near a pedestrian walkway, a 6-foot fence must be installed around the hives.
• If property owners want to have bee hives near a neighbor with a pool, the beekeepers must discuss it with neighbor before installation of the hives.
Regarding point three, McGrath said that if bees have to fly over a structure that tall (a 6-foot fence), they would normally be well over the height of most humans.
Mayor Mike Roemerman said that the first two points are easily doable. While he didn’t address the third suggestion, he did say that “number four is going to be very difficult to put into language that’s enforceable.”
The council and City Attorney Brian Malone will work on legislation with amendments to be presented at the Aug. 17 council meeting.
Ellisville quickly backtracks on suggested beekeeper restrictions
Back on July 20, the Ellisville City Council tossed around ideas to try and prevent any of its citizens from suffering bee stings while enjoying private swimming pools.
The first potential restriction mentioned would have required beekeepers to provide a water source for the hives/bees. If a property was less than 1/3-acre, the maximum number of hives would be restricted to three. If the hive location was near a pedestrian walkway, a 6-foot fence would have had to be installed around the hives. In addition, if the property owners wanted to have bee hives near a neighbor with a pool, the beekeepers would have had to discuss it with the neighbor before installation of the hives. The idea of requiring beekeepers to hold special permits was also suggested.
Within a week, those ideas were displayed both online and in print.
The buzz spread quickly and several members of the local beekeeping community swarmed the Aug. 17 council meeting. Seven offered their feedback during the initial public comments section of the meeting. They noted the rapid decline of honey bees over the past few decades and some mentioned the use of insecticides, pesticides, herbicides and fungicides as a rapid means to that decline.
Some spoke to the council’s attempt to control nature.
“Honeybees are very busy minding their own business, and they’re just trying to take care of their families,” Mary McCord noted.
Lisa Kosyan added, “It’s a matter of what we can control and what we can’t control. We can’t control where they fly and where they go.”
Kevin Marrott suggested that the onus is on pool owners to keep the bees out of their pools.
Jane Sueme, owner/operator of Isabee’s Beekeeping Supplies, explained the need for bees to be around major water sources at various times of the year. She said that while people complain about bees being near their pools or hummingbird feeders, it’s just for a short period of time and for the bee’s survival. She added that even in managed hives, bees are wild insects and cannot control their need for water sources.
“They need to be around water sources around early March and again when the temperature gets well above 90 degrees,” Sueme said. “When it gets really hot for a day or two they can handle that with their independent resources. But when it’s 100 degrees, like we had this summer for days on end, they have to store somewhere between half a gallon and a gallon of water per day per hive.”
Since Sueme’s Fenton location is the only retail establishment in the area to serve the area’s beekeeping community, she said they field a lot of phone calls from the general public and help them understand the behavior of honeybees.
Council member Dan Duffy (District 3) thanked those “who came out to support the bees.”
“Their survival depends on the actions people like us take,” Duffy said. He noted that the city has taken a number of measures that are “really at the forefront of actions to help our insects,” which have increased the bee population within the city. Those actions include using more native plants within the city and planting a large native grass area by the Bluebird Park amphitheater. Ellisville even hired a public works employee to care for those areas, he said.
“I also don’t agree with the idea of giving pool owners preferential treatment,” Duffy said. With that in mind, he made a motion to strike down all beekeeping regulations regarding swimming pool owners and also extra necessary permits.
Meanwhile, Council Member Vince McGrath (District 1) who brought the issue to light in July said he didn’t intend for any beekeepers to be hurt by what was discussed at that time. One of his major intents was limiting the number of hives per lot, he said.
The result of all the comments was that every single previous restriction was dropped and only one was added: Hives must be at least 10 feet from a neighbor’s property line.
Mayor Mike Roemerman said the “extremely amended” bill (No. 3756) was now even less restrictive than even before the previous council meeting. It passed unanimously to become Ordinance 3523.
