The following article really got me up in arms about city ordinances against beekeeping. One guy says, "They're quiet, they don't smell, they don't make noise." That's an excellent point. I've had many neighbors who's dogs have kept me up at night with their constant barking. How irritating is that? When will we start banning dogs within city limits? I would argue that barking dogs and their irresponsible owners are far more of a nuisance than bees. And I like dogs. I just don't like their owners.
You tell me to get rid of my bees and I'll tell you to euthanize your dog.
Also, for your information, people killed by x per year in the U.S.
People killed by bees: 54
People killed by dogs: 31
People killed by cars: 40,000
"Mike Hillerbrand, a Cary beekeeper, said the town's proposed ordinance would bar him from keeping his three hives on his half-acre lot. He found the proposed restrictions too onerous.
'They're quiet, they don't smell, they don't make noise,' he said as he watched his colonies. Two were quiet, while countless bees from warring colonies swarmed over the third, buzzing quietly as they battled for precious honey.
'It's a microcosm, it functions according to its own set of rules,"'said Hillerbrand, whose children also are fascinated by the hives. And while his neighbors were worried first by the bees, he said, their fear faded with time, and the family Plott Hound became the new object of neighborly ire."
Can honeybees be good neighbors?
BY ANDREW KENNEY