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HomeMy Public PortalAbout1977_12_21 40• MINUTES OF PUBLIC HEARING ON "BEES", DECEMBER 21, 1977. 361 A public hearing was held by the Leesburg Town Council in the Council Chambers , 10 West Loudoun Street, ' Leesburg, Virginia on De- cember 21 , 1977. The hearing was . called to order by. the Mayor at 8 :04 P.M. Present were: Mayor Mary Anne Newman, Councilmembers James A. Rock, ' C. 'Terry Titus and John W. Tolbert, 'Jt. ; -also Town Manager John Niccolls and Assistant to the Manager. Jeffrey H._ Minor. Absent from the meeting were Councilmembers Charles E.. Bange, Stan- ley D. Herrell , Jr. and Glen P. Cole, with Mr. Bange and Mr. Herrell joining the meeting later in the evening. The Notice of Public Hearing was read by the Clerk of the Council. • - ' PROPONENTS OF THE PROPOSED ORDINANCE. Mr. Thomas J. Lynch, of 54 N. King Street, and who lives next door to one who has a number of beehives, was strongly in favor of an ordinance that would prevent beekeeping in the corporate limits of Leesburg. He and other members of his family are allergic to bees and the numbers kept next door to him are a constant worry. Enforcement of an ordinance limiting beekeeping would be burden- some on the town. Actually, enforcement is up to the beekeeper himself - to his management practices and techniques. He was not here to protest anyone' s activity in participating in the free enterprise- System, but he felt that his freedom is being seriously jeopardized by beekeeping, and that of his family as well. There are ordinances' in Leesburg regarding dairy cattle and horses if they become a nuisance, but nothing that can adequately be en- forced relative to bees and apiaries. He, therefore, felt that the proposed ordinance is easily enforcable. • OPPONENTS OF THE PROPOSED ORDINANCE. Mr. Jim Chamblin, attorneyttrepresenting Mr. William Whitmore and a :resident -of Leesburg; calledto- Council ' s attention the agree- ment that resulted from criminal -charges brought against Mr. -Whit- mere under the nuisance ordinance of the Town'- there-have-been - no complaints about .this' and it has been complied with. Bees are riot dangerous -if properly cared for - hosever, this is not the' dase here - the expert said he- saw nothing wrong with:the way Mr. Whit- more was keeping 'his bees. The question here is that you have the right of • someone 'to do with his property as he pleases as opposed to the general police power of Leesburg. The ideal answer is to strike a medium. Mr. ' Horne, prosecutor for -the Town- in the/above- - mentioned he above- mentioned case, suggested that the -Town take some action with re- gard to bees in the Town - perhaps an ordinance that would pro- vide reasonable guidelines for the keeping of bees. Mr. Chamblin thought it strange that he was advised only of letters from. resi- dents: in the' ar-ea of Mr. Whitmore' s residence that were in opposi- tion to the bees - -he was not advised-'of those that had no -prob- lems with the bees. He asked for the same courtesy in this case as has been afforded people speaking against him in zoning cases. He •was not sure :that it is constitutional for a governmental body to adopt an ordinance that would completely prohibit the keeping of bees. A report from the Bureau of- Vital Statistics from 1947 through 1975 shows that there was only one death in the State -of Virginia from a honeybee sting. There were two from rattlesnake bites as a result of religious rituals and- there were deaths from wasps, yellow.•jackets, •etc. He suggested -that 'Council - take ad- vantage of the knowledge that -Mr. Ho me :has gained. - 'Mr. Whitmore has -put a lot of :money into this 'andit- is a hobby with him, • but he would hate to shut it down- if the proposed-ordinance-is adopted. The State has a very strong policy on pollinators. If the. Town adopts this ordinance, it would be going against the State policy completely. ' He urged ' that the Town strike `a happy 'medium. ' Mr. Titus asked Mr. Chamblin to briefly review the facts in the nui- sance-charge brought • against Mr. Whitmore. -Mr. Chamblin related as follows: A summons was served `on Mr. ,Whitmore that he Was in violation of the nuisance ordinance -as a result -of'his beekeeping operation. There had been Complaints 'over -a -long -period 'of time and a member -of "the Town-Staff sent out`-inquiries toneighborsin the area:- A Memorandum of Understanding was filed ft the case, stating thatthe matter will- be- continued- on the -General District iA. 362 MINUTES OF PUBLIC HEARING, DECEMBER 21, 1977. docket, with the Town -having -leave- to -reinstate the case should the conditions of the Memorandum not be complied with. The conditions were that Mr. Whitmore reduce hisbeepopulation,by approximately 50 percent (this has been done) ; that he maintain an adequate sup- ply of water within 20 feet of any hives on his property; no hives shall be maintained within 20 feet of a boundary line -and entrance ways to the hives shall face east; an obstruction shall be main- tained around the hives and the entrance ways, must be clear of any obstruction; he will camouflage the hives from observation. The case stands on the Court docket as a generally continued case. There are no rules in General District Court as to how long it could remain on the docket but, drawhg a parallel to the, Circuit Court, it could be five years. Mr. H. P. Powers, Chief State Apiarist for Virginia, said that Virginia is serious in its reliance on bees- as, producers, of part. of its new wealth - they produce honey - about $2, 000,000 worth of' product on the farm value basis, and this increases about seven-fold on the final- agricultural market. However, this: $2, 000,000 worth of honey that keeps the beekeepers in business is not the significant amount of new wealth that causes - action like the State Legislature - passage of the plant pollination bill at last session. It is new wealth in other agricultural enterprises, such as apples and cu- cumbers. Apples alone had a farm value of about $30, 000, 000 last year. They are referred to as self-unfruitful - they produce fruit only if the blossoms are pollinated by insect visitation: This is a business enterprise and cannot depend on helter-skelter pollina- tion, The same is true of cucumbers. It is the "managed" bees that provide the suitable pollination to apples and to cucumbers on the Eastern Shore. The net result is that a very significant source of new wealth in Virginia relies on "managed" honeybees. It depends on those people who have a truck and strong arms to move the bees in. when needed. They provide some order to the production of apples and cucumbers: This is not a big enough industry or widespread or organized enoughyto have created within itself a suitable apprentice- ship _program and there is no college curriculum that produces com- mercial beekeepers. So it is the part-time hobbyists that make up about two ,percent of the commercial beekeepers - they are a neces- sary part of the whole scheme of agriculture. He said this sounds - like .a social problem that is being dealt with by attacking the biology and this is not an appropriate ,way to deal -with the situa- tion. Since there are as many bees in the wooded areas, if you took all the hives away from the Town, it would take a very small proportion -of the bees in Leesburg. In his experience as a regis- tered professional sanitarian, where bees might be judged a public health nuisance, this ordinance might be an appropriate way to deal with the situation. Insect stings are considered a public health hazard, but there are probably less than five percent of incidences of human reaction to bees. They do not sting except as a defensive measure. Therefore, human interaction with stinging in- sects is with insects other than honeybees. Mr. Bange and Mr. Herrell joined the meeting at 8: 35 P.M. There followed a period of questions by Council members, with Mr. Powers furnishing the information as to the habits of bees. Mr. -Bill Whitmore, 52 N. King Street, said that, at a recent National Boy Scout Jamboree, there were two beehives on display in connection with the beekeeping merit badge program. - People asked if it was not dangerous and deadly to keep these insects near them. Through 1976 more than 40, 240 merit badges have been awarded for bee- keeping - can this be dangerous and deadly? It is estimated that, of the 10 to 20 percent population allergic to various -things, less than one percent showed some reaction to insect stings. If Council adopts this proposed ordinance and he is forced tq get rid of his beehives, each Council member should count the nunber of honeybees in his yard next spring, . Taxpayers would unknowingly be maintain- ing a colony of bees near their homes. After many years of search, court hearings, penalties and expense to the taxpayersL you could probably eliminate the bees in town. You would then have to go to the County to eliminate them, and the County is, at present, spon- soring beekeeping courses. 'If the County would reverse and spend 363 MINUTES OF PUBLIC HEARING, DECEMBER 21 , 1977. thousands of dollars, you could probably eliminate all of them, but you would find very little fruit and vegetables - they require pol- lination by honeybees. The farmers would have to give up growing many crops. ' The United States and most State governments are at present spending millions of dollars to promote honeybees. Mr. Lynch has stated in his letter that no test has been made on him or his son to prove that they are allergic to bees. He moved in several years after the hives were there and he knew they were there. There is a principle in law that provides that an occupier of the land is free to enjoy his land in any lawful manner he chooses. Mr. Whitmore wished to enjoy his property and the bees. He felt that the proposed ordinance is too broad to enforce and would, therefore, be invalid. More people are accidentally stung by yel- low jackets than any other stinging insect. Giving up bees will not solve the problem because there will still be flowers. Again there were questions with regard to the habits of bees, with Mr. Whitmore providing the answers. Mr. Victor Blazevic, who lives in Sterling Park and is a part- time beekeeper, felt that there was a misconception as to what a "swarm" of bees is. A "swarm" is that portion of a hive which leaves the hive to perpetuate its own kind - the older queen and all of the foragers. Bees foraging for nectar are not a "swarm." He became involved in this case about two years ago when Mr. Pearson, who lives 73 73 at 58 N. King Street, called to ask him to remove a swarm of bees in the -bushes next door to him. He managed to shake most of the bees into the swarm box, but he did get stung when he provoked one of them by pinching . At the same time, he met Mr. Bos and Mr. Lynch. He contracted with Mr. Bos to get a "swarm" out of his house- Mr. Bos said Mr. Whitmore had tried, but was unsuccessful . After six to seven weeks, he (Mr. Blazevic) was successful in this endeavor. He said there were a .tremendous number of swarms in the area in 1976. He made the statement at that time that there was every indication that these swarms came from Mr. Whitmore' s yard and that it was pos- sible that Mr. Whitmore had not managed his hives properly, In al- most 80 percent of the times he is called to take bees out of peo- ple' s homes, he discovers they are yellow jackets or wasps. He could understand Mr. Lynch' s position, but getting rid of the bees in town would not solve the problem - you would have to get rid of every colony within a 10-mile radius of the town. He felt that the ordi- nance from Islip, Long Island might be a solution, but he did not think it would solve the entire problem since it seemed to be more of a social problem. He did feel that the erection of a fence or some high structure close to the hives, particularly in urban areas, is a way of forcing the bees to fly higher. Also, he stressed the importance of a water source close to the hives. He has bees in six different locations and has more requests to take bees from peo- ple' s yards than he has hives. He did know that the Lynches like a lot of flowers and, even if Mr. Whitmore is forced to get rid of his hives, they would probably still have a lot of bees - unmanaged colonies in the wooded areas travel as much as two miles to forage. Mr. Dudley Kinser, 46 N. King Street, said he has three hives in his back yard. His wife is a baby sitter and there are at times 4 to 5 children in the yard. They have never been bothered with the bees. He lived on Liberty Street for 11 years and kept bees there, with no complaints from his neighbors. He felt that this is a matter of personal concern because someone is allergic to them. Mr. Charles Bos, 55 N. King Street, was not sure whether he was for or against this proposed ordinance. Everyone agrees that remov- ing managed bees is not going to get rid of them. The issue seems . to be whether or not there is a nuisance and, if so, how to get rid of it. He felt that the problem is whether or not he bees are man- aged and how do you enforce proper management? The ordinance pre- viously proposed seemed to be on the right track. He was convinced that bhere is less of anuisance if the bees are properly managed. At the suggestion of Mr. Rock, Mayor Newman read into the record letters from Mr. Gerhard Gesell and Mr. Joseph Mydlinski, both of which expressed desires that this ordinance not be adopted. Mayor Newman- thanked those who made their views known at this hearing. Council will discuss this at a future workshop session to be held on January 18, 1978. The public hearing was declared closed at 9 : 50 P.M. /. /• i2 , Mayor w--� Clerk of tttt' ncil_