The City of Aurora Colorado recently had a committee meeting voting to
ban keeping honeybees in residential areas. The crux of the matter
came down to a person who is allergic to honeybee stings convincing 2
of the 3 committee members that allowing honeybees to be kept in
residential areas would endanger her life. Although she lives in fear
of her life she has not sought out desensitization but feels that
banning honeybees is a better safety measure. The local paper printed
an article about the committee meeting.

http://www.zwire.com/site/News.cfm?B...A G=461&rfi=9

I am urging any of you who feel that urban gardeners should have the
availability of pollination for their different fruits and other crops
to read the article and then post your comments at the end.

Thank you.

Tom

Tom Patterson wrote in message
...
The City of Aurora Colorado recently had a committee meeting voting to
ban keeping honeybees in residential areas. The crux of the matter
came down to a person who is allergic to honeybee stings convincing 2
of the 3 committee members that allowing honeybees to be kept in
residential areas would endanger her life. Although she lives in fear
of her life she has not sought out desensitization but feels that
banning honeybees is a better safety measure. The local paper printed
an article about the committee meeting.


http://www.zwire.com/site/News.cfm?B...sid=7030971&PA
G=461&rfi=9

I am urging any of you who feel that urban gardeners should have the
availability of pollination for their different fruits and other crops
to read the article and then post your comments at the end.

That really sucks, and is a good example of what's going wrong with our
country today,
however if pollination is your only concern use Bumble Bees.
Also if you have some extra money, sue the city.


--
Emperor Itchy | A little higher,
Lord of all I survey | now alittle to the left,
with my very narrow vision | a little more...
| THAT'S IT!!!!!
| Aaahhhhhhh!!!

In article k.net,
I am urging any of you who feel that urban gardeners should have the
availability of pollination for their different fruits and other crops
to read the article and then post your comments at the end.

Best quote in the article (from a reader comment):

"Removing all bees from the city will not make the city a safe place for that allergic
person. They are still at risk from wasps and wild bees that don't know how to read city
ordinances."

HA

Cheers
KJ
--
---
Gonzo: I had that weird dream again. || http://www.ibiblio.org/kelly
Rizzo: You mean the one with the goat and the dwarf and the jar of peanut butter?

In article , Tom Patterson
wrote:

The City of Aurora Colorado recently had a committee meeting voting to
ban keeping honeybees in residential areas. The crux of the matter
came down to a person who is allergic to honeybee stings convincing 2
of the 3 committee members that allowing honeybees to be kept in
residential areas would endanger her life. Although she lives in fear
of her life she has not sought out desensitization but feels that
banning honeybees is a better safety measure. The local paper printed
an article about the committee meeting.


http://www.zwire.com/site/News.cfm?B...A G=461&rfi=9

I am urging any of you who feel that urban gardeners should have the
availability of pollination for their different fruits and other crops
to read the article and then post your comments at the end.

Thank you.

Tom

Honey bees are banned where I live.
I don't mind so much that so many people are just ****ing crazy. The
annoying thing is the craziest ones end up in government wearing
normal-masks as they destroy the world or march our children into war.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

(Ian) writes:
Funny thing is that 9 times out of 10 it is a wasp that has stung
someone, not a bee. Bee's usually don't sting unless they are
panniced or they are defending their colony. Bees are a social insect
instinctually flea from danger, where a wasp is an independent insect
instinctually attacking danger. I'm a beekeeper and am sick and
tiered of people always blaming bees for there sting. Wasps are the
aggressors, and if people actually payed attention, they could very
easily tell what stung them. A bee leaves her barbed stinger venom
sack, a wasp leaves only a welt b/c she has no barb. It seems the
hives that tend to bother people are the ones that aren't hidden from
sight.
Anyhow, another extremly efficient pollinating non stinging insect is
the Orchard Bee. They are very easy to keep and just about as good at
pollinating as the honey bee.

Even people living in an apartment block can keep a hive of bees.
An organic food store near me used to have a hive of bees inside the
store, with a plastic plumbers pipe winding up along the wall to exit
via a hole in the brickwork. A small platform made it easier for the
heavily laden incoming bees to land. I can't remember whether the pipe
was transparent or not (I guess it probably was, for the hive was a
display exhibit to interest the store's customers).

I can picture a determined apartment dweller might use his balcony as
the exit point for his bees to better diffuse their flight paths to
keep the hive from the notice of potential troublemakers. (Bees dump
their dead at the hive entrance, so arrange for this to be on your
balcony rather than have spent carcasses drop down to the balcony or
open window of residents below!). It would be a good idea to cap the
hive exit at night to stop a few curious bees from being attracted to
your lights (and, more crucially, those of your neighbours), but make
sure you remove the block before sunrise to allow the workers to go
about their business. Bees are early risers.

Just see and make sure that you secure the hive components so that it
can withstand a good jolt (even an earthquake) without coming apart!
You don't ever want to have to contend with a roomful of angry bees.
One last point: avoid the use of fly sprays, strong perfumes,
smouldering mosquito coils, and roach bombs! Bees understand that
persistent smoke means a bushfire is approaching, so they start packing
their bags ready to move out. Bees perform their own airconditioning,
so they probably would fare better where the apartment has none.

I think there is a sci.agriculture.beekeeping newsgroup, too.
--
John Savage (for email, replace "ks" with "k" and delete "n")