How would you feel about your neighbor keeping a beehive?

[Liberal_in_LA]

Poll question: How would you feel about your neighbor keeping a beehive?

Backyard bees: Hardworking friends, or annoying neighbors?
As the popularity of home beehives spreads, so do battles over local laws that regulate them

The tiny honeybees in Dan and Jeri Hemerlein's six hives in their big backyard are dedicated workaday drudges, oblivious to the passions they've stirred in humans across Maryland.

But in a search for water next door in retiree Sam Peperone's yard, the bees set off a Howard County zoning fight that has lasted close to three years and drawn hundreds of bee supporters to public hearings over the last 18 months.

--------------------------

"Urban environments around the world, from Moscow to Istanbul, Paris to London, Melbourne to Rome, are seeing an increase in beekeeping," said author Grace Pyndyk, who wrote "The Honey Trail," describing the phenomenon.


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-hometown-columbia-20110123,0,1950043.story

[proud patriot]

1. I garden so I appreciate pollination

Bees next door are fine with me

[roguevalley]

55. when i was a kid I stayed with my grandparents in Portland, Oregon

for six weeks. No toys, no kids, no tv, nada. There was a big old bee hive in the backyard with enough space between it and the holly hedge for me to slide in and sit. My face was nearly touching the hive. I would sit for hours days on end and watch them. They would fly in ladened down and make the honey which on an angle I could see. they would fan their wings all as one when it was too hot and when one would hit flowers, he would come and dance for the others so they could fly straight there and get the nectar. A bee that didn't belong coming in would be attacked and driven off or killed and the dead would be brought out and dumped. Awesome creatures, bees.

They let me sit there and I never got stung once. I will never forget it. And the honey in a big old tub with combs attached? Lordy. I love bees.

[handmade34]

72. love your story...

I got started because my grandfather was a beekeeper. I used to sit for hours and watch my bees fly in and out... so much to learn; they have a wondrous working society and so skillfull... I played around for awhile lining bees and that is a real trick and fun to do

[proud patriot]

138. Man that sounds so AWESOME

:D

[calimary]

78. Same here. Besides, we need our bees! We need more bees!

[Joe the Revelator]

2. We need a stingless bee

[handmade34]

73. honeybees will not sting

unless provoked and they think their home is threatened... and... bee venom therapy is good stuff

[Recursion]

84. We have them. They're called honeybees.

Leave them alone and they won't sting you.

[Capitalocracy]

3. Apparently, we kind of need all the bees we can get at the moment.

Do it.

[thecrow]

38. Yeah really! I haven't seen a honeybee in three years!

Just bumblebees, and not that many of them.

[Retrograde]

56. They're all hanging around my yard

They like the lemon tree - it's usually buzzing with them. I occasionally see trees with small hives in them around the neighborhood, all wild.

I don't mind bees, but can't stand honey.

[EFerrari]

4. Ours had three and I'm phobic re bees.

Never had any problem but that didn't stop me from constant fretting. lol

[handmade34]

74. not a bad idea to be very wary of

wasps and hornets... but honeybees: they are your friend!

[EFerrari]

79. I like them better one of two at a time!

lol

Phobias are irrational. My neighbor loved his bees and afaik, took excellent care of them. :)

[aaaaaa5a]

5. I would take bees over a big, yelping, potentially dangerous dog any day.nt

[Raine]

18. Me too, I'd take the bees for sure

a few years back the neighbor next door that THREE Great Danes that stayed outside in his backyard while he was at work. I couldn't even run my microwave without that setting them off (they could apparently hear it). It was hell on earth ... THANK GOD he FINALLY packed up his dogs and moved away!

[Curmudgeoness]

6. I would just love it. nt

[RB TexLa]

7. I'd mind my own damn business

[peacebird]

8. responsible beekeepers see to it they have a water source near the hives

You definitely do NOT want your bees going over to drink from the neighbors pool!
I have a small still pond with a couple mosquito eater fish and some water plants in it in my bee yard. I make sure it always has water (preferably still and a bit stagnant - they like it better that way!). My two hives are in a fenced yard behind my hubby's workshop.

[Liberal_in_LA]

11. nice to hear from an actual beekeeper. thanks

:hi:

[Dappleganger]

15. +100000

[stevedeshazer]

46. +1

[Mojorabbit]

60. I agree

I have two hives and I live on a lake but I still keep fresh water available for my bees.

[handmade34]

76. independent little cusses

I tried to rein in the 50,0000 per hive and it is a difficult task... :) you make a very good point but no matter how diligent we are, honeybees will sometimes go miles in search of what they want... no, no bees in your neighbor's pond and no white clothes hung out to dry on a sunny winter's day!!

[peacebird]

102. true enough! :-)

[KittyWampus]

118. Bees like to forage. In Brooklyn, NY 2 organic beekeepers found their bees coming home bright red

So bright they glowed at night.

Turns out the bees were going to a local Maraschino Cherry plant in Brooklyn and lapping up the water from there which had red dye in it.

Beekeepers were horrified and the honey no good. It tastes metallic. BUT, they said the bees were beautiful and glowed at night!




http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/30/nyregion/30bigcity.html

[B Calm]

9. My backyard garden and flowers would love it

and so would I!

[Boojatta]

10. It would depend on how the bees feel about me.

If they ignore me, that's okay. If they like me, that's okay. If they consider me very annoying, then there could be a problem.

[Ozymanithrax]

12. Last year, there were two wild behives in Poway Creek Canyon behind my house.

Would not bother me at all.

[Edweird]

13. As long as they are responsible and considerate I'm good with it.

[csziggy]

14. I'm moderately allergic to stings, but I would not mind having a beehive around

I've thought about contacting local bee keepers and offering to let them put hives on our farm, but we don't really have good plants for making honey, just grass and trees. If we had tupelo trees, I would be out hunting for a bee keeper so I could trade for some honey. Right now, I have to pay $5.50 a pound for tupelo honey! I'd love to be able to trade out bee territory for some.

[sarge43]

35. 5.50 isn't an unreasonable price. The national average for local honey is six a pound.n/t

[csziggy]

65. I guess buying directly from the beekeepers or from the local food co-op

Is spoiling me! The last time I bought a half gallon (6 pounds) it was about $25. This time it was so much higher I was shocked.

I've gotten so tupelo honey is the only kind I like. Most other honeys just seem cloyingly sweet compared to tupelo. I am so lucky to live close to where most of the tupelo honey in the world is produced!

[handmade34]

67. if you ever get the opportunity

try honey locust... wow... outta this world fresh from the hive!

[csziggy]

134. Where do honey locust grow? I haven't heard of honey from them

Here in North Florida.

[handmade34]

137. probably don't grow in Florida

I had my hives under a honey locust tree one year and the honey was beautiful; very light tasting and almost clear in color... don't know where to buy it

http://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/pg_gltr.pdf

[csziggy]

141. Yes, it looks like we are out of the normal distribution of honey locust

Though I would bet there are specimen trees grown in some places in the state. I'll look for the honey, though I doubt it would be distributed at most of the places I shop, maybe if I travel to the Midwest or look on the internet I can find some.

Here is one place that has it - sometimes when the supply allows: http://www.ebeehoney.com/locusthoney.html

[Mendocino]

142. Linden trees

also known as basswood, produce great honey.

[sarge43]

101. You're fortunate. Tupelo is one of the most sought after honeys.

Re prices - cost rules. Because of CCD, bee keeping is becoming an expensive hobby. Six years ago a nuke hive (small hive with established queen, drones and workers) was o/a $85; now it's over $100 -- obviously fewer bees.

Re cloying - if you're referring to commercial honey, store bought, that's exactly right. It's the way it's processed - mixed batches and overheated. Because of what and when the girls are harvesting, local honeys are as varied as wine. Stay away from the supermarket and look around. You could turn into a honey snob. :) "Ah yes, piquant but a delicate finish. Sanborne farm, east acres, mid July."

[csziggy]

133. I've tried a number of different honeys, store bought and from local hives

Orange blossom honey, in my opinion, is one of the worst as far as being cloying, even that I bought from a beekeeper who had his hives in some orange groves near my parents, but then I do not like flower honeys usually anyway. I liked some sourwood honey we got while on a trip to Tennessee, but it's not something I can get regularly unless I could find it on the internet.

I need to try the other honey sold at our food co-op. I can't remember what they called it, but it is locally produced and about a dollar a pound cheaper than the tupelo. I suspect it is a generic without a strong basis in any one kind of flower nectar. Most of the honey I use is put into my bread so using tupelo for that is really a waste. If I want honey I can taste, it will be tupelo every time for as long as I can get it.

At least once a week there is a guy selling tupelo honey and locally made preserves on the side of the road not too far from here. His wares are produced outside of Dothan, Alabama, and his brother in law is the beekeeper, his sister makes the preserves from locally grown fruits. Not marked organic, but likely not loaded with pesticides. If I haven't had a chance to get to the food co-op, I buy from him. The food co-op stuff is all organic and probably marginally better, but it is ten miles farther away and I have to plan a special trip to get there,

[eleny]

16. We had a neighbor two doors away who kept bees

And we have a narrow irrigation ditch with water in it 6 months a year. We also had a couple of fruit trees and flowering plant that would draw bees. It was never a problem. His bees were quite docile. They'd love our trumpet vine at the end of the summer. I could walk all around the massive old vine and the bees would just be doing their thing.

So I guess it would be okay with me so long as the bees weren't aggressive.

But a family across the street kept a horse for many years and we'd get the big horse flies and they were a pain. They were aggressive and bit.

[Mopar151]

24. I am SO with you on the horseflies

Black flies are a plauge here in New England - I call the green horseflies "Black 'n Decker Flies" 'cuz they don't bite - they drill!

[eleny]

48. Oh man, that sounds painful! But, lol over the name!

[1monster]

17. I'm not sure. I have eight curious cats. As long as the bees are not

Africanized Killer Bees, the beekeeper uses safe practices, and they don't mess with my cats, I guess I'd be okay with it. (I hear local honey is great for dealing allergies.)

[Liberal_in_LA]

23. most of us over 40 grew up with bees everywhere. It wasn't really a choice

or the blame of neighbors. I recall bees always being in the backyard and periodically cat would come home with a puffed up face or swollen paw. Or we kids would get stung. It was just part of life.


http://www.fullpets.com/tag/stung-cat/

[1monster]

139. Same here ... I lived on a farm. The real problem wasn't the honey bees, it was the wasps, hornets,

yellow jackets, and bumble bees. I've been stung twice at school subbing for P.E. classes by yellow jackets. Don't like them little stingers at all!

[barbiegeek]

36. killer bees & domestic bee mate. It can attrach them

[Atticus]

19. My neighbor has several. They help pollinate our flowers and our vegetable garden. It's called

"nature".

[SoCalDem]

20. free honey?

Seriously though, I think it would depend on just how successful they were as beekeepers.

Our youngest is allergic to bee & wasp stings, so I would always be afraid of that . I see wasps & bees around here all the time (not as many as there used to be though), but he's grown & married now and does not live here, so I pretty much ignore them and they ignore me. I have not been stung in decades.

It would also depend on the setting.

a cookie-cutter suburb where houses are feet apart, might be a real turn off, but if large lots are part of the mix, perhaps the bees would be sequestered enough to not be that much of an issue.

Modern life, where we are all squished together presents a lot of "issues" about what our neighbors do or don;t do...

[Maru Kitteh]

21. Love em. Come rock my garden. n/t

[Texasgal]

22. i see no problem with it.

There are many hives in folks backyards that they might not even know about.

Pfft. Non-issue.

[barbiegeek]

25. I'm allergic & Would die if I got stung.

Bees are important, but not in my neighbor's yard. I'd sue.

[Joe the Revelator]

27. What law would you sue under?

[barbiegeek]

34. Civil court for my hospital ER bill, medications, & epi-shot and

any modifications to my yard like netting, fencing, violation of covenant and city restrictions on animal/insect breeding.

Bee are important to our survival, but you can NOT endanger the lives of your neighbors. I wouldn't let a hog lot be built next to me either without a fight over groundwater safety. Except with my bee allergy--instead of dying slowly by water contamination, I have 1 and 1/2 hours before I suffocate to death from a bee sting. Leaving my children motherless.

Where I live, you can buy an 1/2 acre in the country for a couple grand. Let them move out there.

[barbiegeek]

40. 14 years of Allergy shots & still allergic. I've tried

[Le Taz Hot]

100. You do realize, don't you that you actualy have to DO

something to the bees in order for you to get stung, right? Bees are docile. You sound like a real fun neighbor. :eyes:

[Donald Ian Rankin]

110. Unfortunately "sit on them" or "get them caught in your hair" count. N.T.

[KittyWampus]

119. #1. If you're that allergic, you should have an epi-shot available at all times. #2 You'd not know

if it was your neighbor's bee or just a generic wild bee.

[barbiegeek]

125. I have 5 epi-pens, prescription 50 mg epi pills, 14 years of allergy shots,

If I told my neighbor it could kill me and they refuse & have no sense of caring of a death of neighbor. Yeah, I'd be a jerk to live next too.

I have no flowers around my home, I got special permission from my convent to pull them all out. My next door neighbors removed all their flowers too to help me. I bought them replacement plants (none flowering).

[NickB79]

131. In that case, remember to save the bee

And try to find some way to prove that it was the neighbor's bee and not a wild one. You might even have to go so far as to spend big bucks on a lab doing genetic testing or entemological comparisons to make your case.

Either way, you'd more than likely be wasting your time and money on any kind of lawsuit even if your neighbor had a hive next door.

[Odin2005]

26. Oh FUCK no! I have an extreme phobia of bees. they TERRIFY me.

[Liberal_in_LA]

37. lol. I hate grasshoppers. No grasshopper hives near me please.

[Le Taz Hot]

99. I hate grasshoppers too.

ESPECIALLY in my damned garden. But I found a great way to keep them at bay: a) throw them to the cats and let them play with their new toy, b) throw them in the black widow webs. (Yes, I do have widows and I try to keep them at a manageable level. They're not allowed to live where I or my cats live or work.)

[Liberal_in_LA]

140. I couldn't bare to get close enough to 'handle them'. ugh

[handmade34]

68. once you get to know them

they are wonderful neighbors

[flpab]

28. my neighbors bees

I have neighbors that have a blueberry farm and they have bees also. I have an old whiskey barrel on my patio that I use as a table, has a hole in the side where a plug goes but had not plug in it until one day I walked by it with my dogs and heard a roar inside the barrel. Then I saw about a hundred bees swarming in and out. Yikes...

[Liberal_in_LA]

33. In that situation, I'd call my beekeeping neighbor and ask them to come get their bees!

[Sonoman]

29. Our City Council just passed an ordinance allowing backyard hives.

I am starting one as soon as I can.

Sonoman

[handmade34]

69. yah!

:applause:

[Sonoman]

130. I live in the coolest small town in the country.

Sonoma, CA.

With a pop. of around 9,000, our town threw a retirement party on the Plaza for Dave, the guy who used to tend the grounds.

10,000 people showed up.

Sonoman

[madmom]

30. My grandfather raised honey bees, fresh honey YUM!!!

[bigwillq]

31. Fine with me (nt)

[madrchsod]

32. we need every dam one of them....

[handmade34]

77. absolutely!!

[phylny]

39. My brother lives in Howard County and they had an "invasion"

of honeybees in a tree in their yard.

They were fascinated, not angry, and got someone to come and corral the bees. The video he took was absolutely amazing!

[Mojorabbit]

62. That is how I got started keeping bees

I had a squirrel nest box in my yard and a swarm took it over. The county extension service sent a beekeeper out and he collected him. He was so gentle with them.
I was so fascinated, I did more research on them and then started keeping them myself.

[A Brand New World]

41. My neighbors got a hive last year. No problems at all with

them. I'd been thinking of getting one myself & then one popped up at their house, practically at the same time. I've read that hives shouldn't be too close together because they can get territorial so I've nixed my somewhat plans.

[handmade34]

70. not true

get thee a hive asap

[frogmarch]

42. My husband is severely allergic

to bee stings. Years ago he was stung by hundreds of bees while on a hike, and he almost died. In the ER his heart stopped, and the doctor gave him a shot of adrenalin directly into the heart. He is now extremely allergic to bee venom and carries epinephrine with him at all times.

So please, no beehives next door to us.

[handmade34]

80. bee sting are horrible for people like your husband who are allergic

rarely is the problem honeybees though... chances are you would never see the bees from a hive next door...

I kept bees for years and always kept benydryl and epipens nearby... never had any problems and lots of people visited

[nolabear]

43. I'm allergic and I'm all for it.

We need bees desperately, and honeybees are gentle souls for the most part. I don't think I'd be more likely to get stung by the next door bees than any others. (Of course honeybees don't cause too bad a reaction...ask me if I'd like someone to raise yellow jackets and I might tell a different story).

[me b zola]

44. All the better for my garden

:)

[KT2000]

45. Many hives are located

a few yards away from me. He does a good job of tending them. I do find dead bees though on my deck which is sad.

[TheKentuckian]

47. Other: How much do I get honey for?

[Demoiselle]

49. My next door neighbor DID keep bees.

One hive, on an upstairs balcony. It was fine. I like bees. No one in our family has allergies to stings, however, and I can understand how people might worry.

[pipi_k]

50. Not that they're the same thing, but...

when I had a large Butterfly Bush in my yard, I'd go out every few days and trim off the dead flowers. While doing so, I would be accompanied by bumblebees, buzzing around. I didn't bother them, they didn't bother me. Hot summer day...little fuzzy buzzing bees. It was kind of cool...

So I don't think I'd mind honeybees as neighbors.

:)

[Happyhippychick]

51. I'm allergic. I would have to move.

:(

[Pathwalker]

63. Or, you could keep an epi pen handy, like me. I'm allergic too,

but I'm also a gardener, so I understand the need for bees. I've sat next to them while gardening, stepped in a hive of ground bees I didn't know were there, and in 20 years of gardening, I've never been stung once. :hi: Just keep a fresh pen, and keep it close.

[Happyhippychick]

143. Hiya fellow allergy sufferer!

I have an epi but I also have constant anxiety when I'm near bees! I just can't relax and enjoy, I'm impressed that you can! I literally startle when I hear "buzz!"

[handmade34]

81. you would probably never see a bee

from a neighbor's hive... they keep to themselves, either in the hive or out busy collecting pollen and nectar

[Quantess]

52. My parents kept bees.

I grew up with bee colonies nearby.

[uppityperson]

53. Better than someone with a bunch of nasty bratty kids.

:sarcasm: Bees are fine with me. Good to have some around but I'd expect them to share some honey with me.

[progressoid]

54. yummy

[mopinko]

57. i'd bee cool with it. honey bees are scarce here.

last year we had a yellow jacket nest in our compost pile. we let them be because we had so few pollinators around. hope to get rid of them this year.
but yeah, would love some bees.

[alittlelark]

58. None of my neighbors have complained.

[ZombieHorde]

59. Growing up, the people across my back alley brought home a dead log which was occupied by bees.

I used to control my breath and slowly approach the bee log until I was surrounded. I never got stung.

I feel perfectly comfortable with my neighbors keeping bees, but if I was allergic, or if my wife or kids were allergic, I would not feel conformable with a swarm of bees next door.

[IDemo]

61. I'd even give him some tomatoes if his little workers do their job n/t

[Sugarcoated]

64. As may have already said, and I agree,

as long as they're responsible bee keepers, I'd be fine with it. My dad had beehives in our back yard in the South Jersey 'burbs back in the 70's, and I don't remember hearing about the neighbors being too against it, a little, but nothing major. Our dog got a few stings by being nosy one afternoon, but no one else, that I know of, were ever hassled by our bees.

[silverlib]

66. My daughter is allergic and I'm all for it...EPI-stick is the cure...

She has only been bitten once, and not by a honeybee. We have Epi-sticks in several locations and she travels with one (now 22). It was a scary experience when she was stung, but nothing that an Epi stick can't control - and bees are as important to her existence as the Epi-stick.

[flvegan]

71. So long as his critters leave me and my critters alone, have at it.

I'm not interested in honey (obviously) but I'm also not interested in keeping someone from doing something legal and potentially environmentally positive.

Just be nice to the bees.

[handmade34]

83. kinda hard to not be nice to bees

:rofl: bees are crucial to our environment and the more the merrier. I kept bees for years and now my hives are kept by my tenant... hope to get back to it again someday. They are awesome!!

[flvegan]

89. Certain large honey operations have been shown to be less than kind.

That's why I say "be nice to the bees" and all will be well.

[handmade34]

90. any large agribusiness

is exploitive and unhealthy and I repudiate them all!

I just got a big smile thinking about my bees and knowing that they would never let me be less than kind to them... and I could never imagine not loving every single one :-) even the drones!

[flvegan]

91. I applaud you.

I've got $20 that says I'm your first vegan fan.

[Erose999]

75. My grandpa was a beekeeper. None of his bees ever stung any of us when we would visit him

Granted, he had about 5 acres so the bee boxes were well away from the house, and he lived in a rural area. But honeybees are not aggressive at all unless they feel the hive is threatened. When they're out foraging they are pretty harmless. I would think having bees would be fine for someone in an urban area, or on a rooftop in the inner city.

[hootinholler]

82. I've done it

They were not a problem.

-Hoot

[Stinky The Clown]

85. I'm from Baltimore. Why would I care?

[handmade34]

87. I've been to Baltimore...

:rofl:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

86. As long as I know where the hive is, so I can give it a wide berth...

it wouldn't bother me at all.

[handmade34]

88. for all interested in getting started as a apiarist

this is my favorite place for supplies:
http://www.betterbee.com/

I highly recommend keeping bees (for the environment, for fun, for good honey, for your kids, ...)

others:

http://www.dadant.com/
http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/Beekeeping-Supplies/departments/1/
https://millerbeesupply.com/?ccUser=
etc...

[Bluebear]

92. How she wears her hair is none of my business. nt

[Missy Vixen]

93. I'm deathly allergic to bee stings

I have an Epi-Pen within reach at all times nine months a year.

No thanks on the bees.

[Lucian]

94. The more bees, the better.

We need them now. Their numbers are declining rapidly, and it's not good for agriculture.

[krispos42]

95. "a" beehive, no problem.

If your backyard is covered with hives, then maybe you'd better be someplace more rural.

[TicketyBoo]

96. Nervous…

…since my husband is allergic to stings.

[The Second Stone]

97. Assuming gentle honeybees, absolutely

Otherwise yellow jackets (aka wasps) will get to prevalent. Honeybees with an active beekeeper will also be a great buffer against killer bees.

[Le Taz Hot]

98. My citrus trees and garden would LOVE it!

I'm not getting as many honey bees as I used to get so I'm relying more on the carpenter bees and hummingbirds. Unless one is allergic to bee stings I can't imagine this being a bad thing.

[quaker bill]

103. I am tempted

to become that neighbot.

[handmade34]

114. see #88

I highly recommend it... good for the soul

[quaker bill]

104. I am tempted

to become that neighbor

[a la izquierda]

105. Not a problem, but then I don't have bee allergies...

I live in a college town in Oklahoma and one of my neighbors has chickens. Bees would not be a problem, in fact, they'd help pollinate my vegetable garden and my flower beds.

[HopeHoops]

106. I would LOVE it!!! We cheer when we see a honey bee. They've become rare.

I'd keep a hive except that I know myself too well. I wouldn't be a good caretaker and that wouldn't be fair to the hive.

[old mark]

107. It would help our garden, but I doubt we will ever see such a thing...

They clean up their dog shit maybe 2x per year...I'd hate to see how they kept their bees...


mark

[sarge43]

112. They wouldn't keep them for long.

Like any animal husbandry, bee keeping takes close attention. They can't be thrown into a hive and ignored. May get through a season, but not any much more.

[chillspike]

108. I would love it!

Someone trying to make a living or harvest their own resources without relying on or going through some corporate megaopoly? Awesome!

[WinkyDink]

109. Is there a problem I'm not seeing? Loud buzzing?

[sarge43]

111. I'd be more worried about wasps and hornets.

Honey bees aren't interested in committing suicide. If they're left alone, not threatened, they'll return the favor. Further, the foraging bees represent a very small percentage of the hive population.

African strains are problem, but keepers won't have them. While vigorous producers, they are literally a pain to deal with. As for ferals, forbidding backyard hives won't solve that problem.

We've kept bees for six years now. The only feed back we've gotten from the neighbors is "when's the honey ready" and thanks because their gardens are producing bumper crops.

[handmade34]

115. "...aren't interested in committing suicide..."

:-) I'm thinking we need to teach more science in school these days... too many people think a bee is a bee is a bee... so much to learn

[sarge43]

120. The girls are one of the most complex creatures on the planet.

The more we learn about them, the more we have to learn.

I'll give our local elementary school major attaboys. The 3rd grade have a lesson block every spring just on honey bees. My husband is invited to give a talk. He does a good job getting over the point that honey bees are much more than bugs that sting.

[WinkyDink]

135. They're the veritable bees'-knees!

[Robyn66]

113. We keep bees

They are completely safe. You can walk up right next to the hive and they wont bother you. If you stay out of their flight path you will not be accidently stung by them. If they swarm they are at their LEAST aggressive and they will just hang out somewhere for a day or two and then take off. There is NO DANGER to anyone if you keep bees.

[grahamhgreen]

116. Depends on size of hive and proximity.

[gauguin57]

117. In my tiny patch of earth, I grow lots of plants meant to attract pollinators.

So, I have no problem with bees.

BTW: From attending our state farm show, I've learned how hard a full-time, professional beekeeper's job is (learned that from the film "Ulee's Gold," too). Professionals tote their hives all over the country to pollinate different types of plants at different times of the year. California for almonds. Florida for citrus. Up the East Coast for peaches and other fruit.

[The Backlash Cometh]

121. That's a tough one for me.

I'm all for providing the right flowers for them, but on small property lots that could be a problem for little kids who move too fast and will probably get stung.

[firehorse]

122. Conflicted - I live in NYC and my neighbors have a bee hive

I personally am glad for it, but I also remember how my grandmother was deathly allergic to bee stings. So I wonder if any of my neighbors are too. A bunch of us put flowers out for the bees in our window boxes.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

123. Local honey is excellent for the health, and it couldn't get much more local than that. I have no

problem and in fact, would love it.

[LeftishBrit]

124. I once did have a neighbour who kept a beehive

So long as they're responsible about it, I don't have a problem.

[sylvi]

126. My Papa (grandfather) kept bees

We grandkids would play in the yard all the time and I don't remember any of us ever being stung. I also lived right next door to him for several years and they were never a problem.

Plus, the fresh honey was delicious!

[tabbycat31]

127. I am deathly allergic to bee stings so I'd have a problem

But if i lived in a more rural area (my neighbors are a matter of feet away) then I would not.

[Cleita]

128. I would love it. Also that bee keeper needs to provide water to his bees.

Incidentally, gardeners, bees and lady bugs coming around your garden means you have a healthy garden. I'm strictly organic even with my ornamentals because pesticides and other poisons sold in nurseries kill beneficial organisms as well as the ones you don't like. I only use chemicals on my house to keep the creepy crawlies out of my house.

Bees are wonderful, especially if you have fruit and nut trees. Also, bees really don't want to sting you unless you give them cause. I walk through buzzing bees all the time when I dead head flowers and they leave me alone. I leave the flowers on the ground to compost and allow the bees one last shot at getting the nectar from them.

[MilesColtrane]

129. Bs are fine, as are As, Cs, Ds, and DDs.

:evilgrin:

(yes, I am a pig)

[guitar man]

132. Eh

I thought they looked real good with the 60s fashion...as long as she was into mini-skirts I don't think I'd mind at all :silly:

[X_Digger]

136. We had them when I was a kid.. doesn't bother me.

Bit of a pain in the ass when you get populations up to the level that they start swarming, but if well managed, work just fine.