Council beekeeping ban frustrates Twizel apiarist

Apiarist Rob Young is calling for the Mackenzie District Council to bring beekeeping back to its towns.

The demand comes amid complaints about Young’s own apiary in Twizel, for which he has had an existing use right since the early 1990s which means he is exempt from a change made to the District Plan’s residential zone rules in 2017, which bans breeding, rearing, or keeping bees.

Of the three South Canterbury district councils, Mackenzie is the only one with an outright ban on keeping bees in residential areas.

In Timaru and Waimate, residents are permitted to keep them as long as beekeepers adhered to the relevant biosecurity legislation and their bees were not dangerous or offensive.

Timaru District Council spokesman Stephen Doran said ‘‘we’re all good with bees as long as they’re not a nuisance’’.

The Mackenzie council said rules regarding the keeping of bees in residential zones had been in the District Plan since 2004.

‘‘We have had a complaint about the keeping of bees which was causing a nuisance on a neighbouring property which was followed up with the owner who was not aware and didn’t think the rules were fair," a council spokesperson said.

"The District Plan review process is the appropriate time to consider any changes," a council spokesperson said. "We are about to undertake a review of the plan and are aware that some councils do allow bees subject to tight controls around numbers location of hives and species of bee. There will be an opportunity to consider as part of the District Plan review process which will be subject to a public submission process." Young had no idea why the council stopped allowing people to keep apiaries in its towns, especially since he did not know of any other area in New Zealand that did the same.

‘‘You can have bees in Blenheim, Nelson. There’s quite a lot of people in town [Twizel] who are interested in keeping bees, but can’t.

‘‘They’re good for pollinating and just a very interesting hobby. Our garden’s much better with lots of bees in it,’’ he said.

Young said he knew people had complained to the council about his two hives.

‘‘The plan clearly needs to change. I think, logically, being allowed to have beehives would be a good thing.’’

Young said the world’s bee population is plummeting and without bees, the planet will not survive.

Ironically, Young discovered his bees dead on Sunday. The bees would cost about $300 to replace, and Young would have no honey next year.

Apiculture New Zealand (ApiNZ) chief executive Karin Kos said she was ‘‘really surprised’’ to hear the Mackenzie council had banned beekeeping in its residential areas.

‘‘Our garden’s much better with lots of bees in it.’’

Rob Young, apiarist