SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Proposed changes would make it easier for South Bend residents to keep bee hives in the city.
The proposed ordinance would eliminate the current requirement that a beekeeper have at least five acres of land, and it would create a beekeeping permit through the city’s Department Code Enforcement, the South Bend Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/114d7mk ).
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City Councilman Tim Scott said he hopes easing the city’s beekeeping rules will encourage more honeybees at a time when the number of bees is declining across the country because of a mysterious disorder.
“There has to be a barrier in front, kind of protecting the front of the hive … so people can’t stumble upon it,” Scott said.
A Purdue University entomologist said this month that Indiana’s beekeepers are reporting a 30 percent decline in their colonies. Experts say colony collapse disorder has caused as much as one-third of the nation’s bees to just disappear each winter since 2006, but they haven’t been able to pinpoint a cause.
South Bend resident Vince Barletto, who maintains some bee colonies outside the city, said he would expect only about 10 people to seek city beekeeping permits. He said that the presence of those bee colonies wouldn’t increase the risk of people being stung.
“We’re not bringing bees to the city, we’re simply managing the ones that are already here,” he said.
The proposed ordinance change is pending with the City Council’s Health and Public Safety Committee.
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Information from: South Bend Tribune, http://www.southbendtribune.com
