Oak Park votes to begin ending ban on beekeeping

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Chuck Lorence of Aurora, puts on his hat before tending to his bees at the Aurora West County Forest Perserve on Friday, May 20, 2011. | Brian Powers~Sun-Times Media

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Updated: September 30, 2011 12:24AM

Bees are invited to pollinate in Oak Park and leave their honey behind too.

Oak Park trustees voted last week to begin ending the ban on beekeeping in the village, making the western suburb part of a growing trend. There are now an estimated 125,000 amateur apiarists nationwide, up 25 percent in the past five years, says Kim Flottum, editor of Bee Culture magazine.

The Oak Park board voted 6-1 to OK bees.

The lone dissenter was Trustee Ray Johnson, who said beekeepers’ direct neighbors should have the right to nix the hives.

“If it’s a health risk, it would warrant a veto. That’s straightforward. Craft the ordinance that way. People can’t enjoy their backyards,” Johnson said.

Other trustees disagreed and not only approved beekeeping, they also voted against a motion to require permission from neighbors to have them. Notification of neighbors will remain in the proposed ordinance when trustees are scheduled for a final vote — either on Monday or in early July.

Two colonies per household would be allowed.

First lady Michelle Obama has given a boost to bees by allowing hives near her White House garden. The honey makes its way into salad dressings for heads of state. The White House bees are visited often by school groups.

But while the first lady encountered no red tape in setting up her hives, some people in towns from coast to coast are fighting the trend. Local politicians weigh pro-bee arguments against concerns that the insects can sting everything from humans to property values as they decide whether to lift bans that date back a half-century, when cities were trying to shed their agricultural roots.

In Oak Park, real estate agent Gary Mancuso explains, “Nothing against bees, but a lot of people are fearful.”

Says Mancuso, a RE/MAX agent in town: “I equate it to the house next door that’s in disrepair that a potential homebuyer may not want to live next to. Beekeeping could be the safest thing around, but that ‘what if’ factor will give people pause.”

When neighbors complain, “it comes down to education,” says Andrew Cote, president of the NYC Beekeepers Association. “Honey bees really don’t pose a threat, they enhance our lives. Plus, I find a jar of honey often sweetens the deal.”

As a rule, experts say, honey bees are insects on a mission (making honey) who sting only when that mission is in jeopardy. The thugs that give these little fliers a bad name are wasps, hornets and yellow jackets, which are the source of most human griping.

Bee enthusiasts argue that a good beekeeper — who backs the hive with proper fencing and provides his bees with both flora and water — can host colonies that can go virtually unnoticed by neighbors.

But lawmakers in Utah and South Carolina cities recently upheld bee bans, seeing the practice as appropriate only on land zoned for agricultural use.

“These battles are a symbol of people’s concerns that there’s a bigger problem here than meets the eye,” says Taggart Siegel, director of the documentary “Queen of the Sun: What Are the Bees Telling Us?”

“Bees disappearing is a catastrophe for our health and the planet’s balance,” Siegel said. “We can’t be so estranged from nature.”

A third of the nearly 3 million commercial bee colonies have collapsed in the past few years, and a third of those can be attributed to the as-yet-unresolved issue of colony collapse disorder, or CCD. Experts are unable to explain why bees are succumbing to both viruses and pathogens that they had long been able to keep at bay.

Without bees, produce would wither on the vine, a concern that caused Haagen-Dazs to begin donating a percentage of its sales to CCD researchers at Penn State and the University of California at Davis.

“Half of our 70 flavors depend on bees,” says Diane McIntyre, spokeswoman for the ice cream maker, which has dished out $710,000 for research since 2008.

Last week, the Oak Park Board of Health and bee experts expressed support for the colonies, saying bees will produce more flowering in gardens and trees.

“You will see an increase in pollination. Gardens will look better, too,” said Gary Gates, of the 185-member Cook-DuPage Beekeepers Association.

He said bees were “docile creatures” except when defending their hives. About 125 people keep bees in the Chicago area, he said, and the insects could swarm when hives become too crowded after about two years.

Swarming could be avoided by proper beekeeping management, such as removing egg-containing hive frames to reduce populations, he said.

Some 2 million people in the United States have severe reactions to bee stings, and about 75 deaths occur each year.

Johnson said he received a phone call from a resident who said he and his son have severe reactions to bee stings.

“If you don’t want bees in your backyard, then don’t plant things that attract them,” said Trustee Colette Lueck.

Contributing: Gannett News Service