Palm Bay is anti-bee
Ray Myers
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090123/NEWS01/901230319&s=d
A woman in Palm Bay was denied the ability to keep a single hive of honey bees in her back yard by the Palm Bay city council this Thursday because a neighbor claims she was stung. Never mind that European honey bees are usually non aggressive and the neighbor was more than likely stung by a wild wasp or bee, the council voted 4-1 to remove the hive. The lone dissenting vote was Michele Paccione. I sent her an email supporting her actions and requesting some more information on the ordinance that calls for the removal. I also plan on watching the council meeting early next week when they replay it on TV.
If the council members had decided to take even a passing glance at the science behind this situation, they would have voted differently.
Anyone who would like to send an email to the Palm Bay city council, you can find their information here.
http://www.palmbayflorida.org/citycouncil/council/index.html
- Ray Myers
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Neighbors all abuzz about Palm Bay gardener's beehive
Would help pollinate plants, she argues
BY KIMBERLY C. MOORE • FLORIDA TODAY • January 23, 2009
Michelle Provencal loves Florida nature -- everything from native plants to wild birds and endangered species.
So it seemed only natural to her to put one beehive in her backyard to help pollinate her honeybell orange tree, wild cotton plant and various wildflowers -- along with neighbors' flowers.
The hive, filled with gentle European honeybees, also would keep the wild and dangerous African bees out of the neighborhood, experts say, and add to the world's bee population, which is seeing an alarming decline because of colony collapse disorder. "Having a beehive in my yard is just another component of who I am and what I enjoy," said Provencal, who has lived in her home for 13 years.
But a neighbor complained to Palm Bay's Code Enforcement Office that she was stung.
And so, four days after Provencal installed her hive in October, she received a violation notice. In early November, she removed the hive. But she also appealed a decision by Palm Bay's Growth and Development Director Dave Watkins, forbidding the hive because the home is not zoned for agricultural use.
At Thursday night's Palm Bay City Council meeting, Provencal defended her hive, a swarm of supporters sitting behind her, donning bobbling bumble bee antenae.
"How can the stung neighbor prove the bee came from my hive and is not one of thousands of wild honeybees?" Provencal said, adding that there is a feral colony of bees living in a wooded lot behind her neighbor's home.
G.W. Hayes, chief of the Apiary Inspection Section for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, wrote a letter to Provencal, supporting her case, which she presented to the council.
Hayes states that there are 200,000 honeybee colonies in the state.
"We absolutely, positively need registered Florida beekeepers in all areas of Florida, whether urban, suburban or rural," Hayes wrote. "Think of all the fruits, nuts and berries that honeybees pollinate on wild plants that feed Florida's birds and wildlife. Without managed honeybees, this all goes away."
According to the University of Wisconsin, there are beehives in the most densely populated areas in the United States, including rooftop hives in New York City, downtown Chicago and in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. In addition, hives are kept on top of the Paris Opera House.
David Webb has worked as a beekeeper in Brevard County, including Palm Bay, since 1983 and also spoke in defense of keeping a backyard hive.
"If you don't have managed European bees like Michelle's, you're not going to like what you do have," Webb told the council, adding that he has seen evidence of Africanized bees in Palm Bay. "One hive in somebody's backyard is going to be a big help."
After the hourlong discussion, the city council voted 4-1 to uphold the city's decision to keep the hive out of Provencal's backyard.
But the fight isn't over.
City council member Michele Paccione cast the lone dissenting vote, and said she wants to change the ordinance.
"I'd like to find a way to change it," Paccione said. "I'd like to be able to see Michelle have her one hive."
Paccione agreed to meet with Growth Management Director Watkins to discuss the issue, which could come up again at the next city council meeting.