Sting operation
Charlottetown police, council move to prevent beehives ending up in residential areas
Charlottetown city council may cause quite a buzz with a potential bylaw amendment.
First reading was given this past week to an amendment that would see the definition of livestock in the city’s nuisance bylaw include bees.
Essentially, it boils down to the fact that no one living in an R1 residential area will be allowed to have beehives.
The city did the same thing with chickens and other poultry a few years back.
The nuisance bylaw falls under the city’s protective and emergency services committee and, ultimately, Charlottetown Police Services.
“This is just to kind of prohibit people from sticking beehives in the backyard in residential areas,’’ said Charlottetown police Chief Paul Smith.
There would be a number of properties exempt from this bylaw amendment, such as the Urban Beehive Project that was launched last year behind the P.E.I. Farm Centre on University Avenue.
“I know at one point and time in Ontario . . . you couldn’t put them within 30 metres of the property line (so) that would negate anybody putting them anywhere.’’
One of the reasons the city is doing this is to protect residents.
“It’s just so we’re not having situations of you putting a hive in your backyard and your next door neighbour is allergic to bees. It (comes down) to where you put them. Until (we) get a better handle on what the science of it all is, we don’t want hives popping up in residential neighbourhoods.’’
Coun. Bob Doiron, who chairs the protective and emergency services committee, agrees that it comes down to the safety factor.
“It was brought up by our police chief. There were concerns to him,’’ Doiron said. “It was just determined by our committee that we didn’t want to have beekeepers within the city.’’
Smith adds that until more is known about the science of bees and their flight path it is better to err on the side of caution.
He said police haven’t received any complaints about residents who have beehives, but they have fielded lots of inquiries from people asking if they can have hives on their properties.
“Until we get a handle on the science a little bitter let’s put something in to say here’s where you can have them,’’ the chief said.
Smith said he’s not aware of any residential home owners who currently keep hives. Anyone who does would be asked to move them.
Bruce Smith, a beekeeper in Morell, said he can appreciate what the city is doing but also stresses that bees are nothing to be afraid of. He adds that people need to keep in mind how vital bees are to the environment. They pollinate fruit, produce honey and are major contributors to P.E.I.’s apple and blueberry production.
“It seems a shame when bees are so valuable that they would be trying to limit them,’’ Smith said. “It seems to go against what’s happening in other cities where they’re encouraging people to have beehives on the tops of buildings.’’
Smith does what he can to help educate Island school children about bees, giving talks to classes at the Urban Beehive Project.
“I’ll bet we’ve had a dozen classes out there. We’ve put together a theatrical skit where the kids can pretend they are various types of bees . . . when they play the roles they understand what is going on . . . and how important bees are as pollinators. The big thing is to reduce the fear of bees.’’
Smith said a bee knows it will die if it stings a person and will only do so as a last resort, “so don’t swat at them.”
Silva Stojak with Nine Yards Studio in Charlottetown, which designed the hexagon bee houses at the Urban Beehive Project, said it makes perfect sense to prevent beehives from being located near daycares and residents who are deathly allergic to stings but she wonders how far the bylaw would go.
“We produce these little bee hotels, houses for solitary bees that you can put in your garden,’’ Stojak said. “Would they actually prevent that? Then you are definitely not helping the bee population.’’
The bylaw amendment will require a second and final reading, likely to happen at the October monthly meeting.