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george_in_ma

Want bees, but have problem with kids

George_in_MA
19 years ago

We've ordered two packages of bees for the spring--our first time keeping them--but now I'm wondering if it's a good idea.

For the last 20 or so years my yard was the only yard in the neighborhood that wasn't completely fenced, so all the kids in the neighborhood used it to cut through to the next street.

Last spring I planted some trees to create a privacy screen between my yard and that of my next-door neighbor, Fred Sanford. When some of the kids couldn't resist trampling the trees, I got fed up and fenced off my backyard. Now at least one of the kids is angry at me. I've had to replace the same tree four times after it's been pulled out of the ground.

Now it wouldn't hurt my feelings if some juvenile delinquents got their little fannies stung ten or fifteen times, but if they managed to turn a hive over, I should think it would be a real mess to clean up.

I don't want to fence in my entire yard with stockade. But if anyone has any ideas about how I can keep bees without worrying about the neighborhood vandals, I'd appreciate hearing about it. Thanks in advance.

George

P.S. Please don't suggest I have a firm word with the neighborhood kids, or worse, try to reason with them. Kids only understand brute force. And since you can't hit them anymore, and since their parents are afraid to hit them as well, the fear of God has lost its edge.

Comments (8)

  • txbeeguy
    19 years ago

    George,
    "The times, they are a'changing"
    First my lecture: you probably should'va asked this question before you became committed to keeping bee (i.e., buying two packages).
    My first recommendation to you is purely defensive (cya); you should read your city ordnances dealing with keeping honeybees and make sure you're fully capable of being in compliance with these city ordnances. If your city laws don't expressly address the keeping of bees, the next thing angry neighbors go after is enforcement of the nuance animals laws - research those. The next thing is put out your hive boxes in your yard now or very soon (empty) - see what happens to them. See if they're molested or even noticed. Don't overly call attention to the fact that you're even keeping bees. A neighbor's negative mental images of bees running wild is much worse than the reality of it.
    There is one funny story I'll relate (one I've told before in this forum, many months ago). From an English beekeeping friend of mine. Short(er) version: a beekeeper was doing well with his neighbors except for one lady who caused him unending problems with the local authorities. She simply would not tolerate his keeping such dangerous animals in their neighborhood. So after the second call to police to complain, he "fixed" the problem. The next time the police came out on one of her calls, he invited the officer over to the hive to "investigate" the gentleness of his bees. Needless to say, the copper was a little apprehensive but the beekeeper assured him there was absolutely no chance of him being stung. Upon opening the hive, and seeing it completely empty, the police didn't respond to her calls of nuance animals any further. After a few weeks, the beekeeper was able to discretely move his bees back home and all was well.

  • abloom
    19 years ago

    Hi, George:

    IÂve never posted on this forum before, but IÂm interested in bees and sympathetic to your problem.

    I wouldnÂt suggest giving these kids a talking-to, but maybe something theyÂll understand better? Instead of an expensive stockade fence, you could surround your property with sweetbriar roses, the old wild roses. Once established, they require very little care. I believe you can buy the young whips in bundles inexpensively, and they grow fast  mine quickly got to 5-6 feet in zone 5. If you space them 3-4 feet apart, the canes will intertwine into a dense and impenetrable hedge.

    They bloom for a few weeks in spring with lots of small, fragrant, single flowers, and give off their famous "green apple" scent even when theyÂre not in bloom. Beautiful, but like the bees, theyÂre heavily armed  any vandal that tries to mess with them will be sorry!

    Good luck to you.

    abloom

  • George_in_MA
    Original Author
    19 years ago

    Thanks for the responses.

    We have no town ordinances regarding beekeeping. My neighbor is running a cat farm/junk yard, and the town doesn't seem to do anything about that, so I can't imagine they'd be interested in doing anything about my bees.

    Txbeeguy, I know I should have thought of this earlier, but I didn't think this minor vandalism would persist. I thought the kids would be pi$$ed off at me for a bit, and then forget about it.

    Abloom, as it is, I'm sealing off the back yard with rugosas and rugosa hybrids--to soften the sections of fence I had to put up, and to replace a length of 25-year-old stockade that's on its last legs. If I had it to do over again, I would have planted rugosas for my privacy screen--R. rugosa Hansa (or a similar cultivar), which will attain a height of 6 or 8 feet. I should think the kids would have been a bit more careful about trampling them. As it is, I planted fast-growing evergreens. I don't want to just rip them up and replace them with roses, as 20 of them cost me nearly $400.

    The thing that kills me is I grew up in this neighborhood; I wasn't an angel, but I managed to refrain from destroying any of my neighbors' property. Now I have to worry about my trees at $20 a pop, and whether I can keep a couple of hives of bees. The times they certainly are a'changing, and not for the better.

  • Clare
    19 years ago

    Perhaps your hives can go on the roof of a sturdy shed or even on your house so that a ladder is required for access and flyways start off well overhead.

    I live in the city and have decided against keeping bees here because I know how irrational some people are about bees. I'm sure someone would blame me if they were to get stung. And the most extreme might happily look forward to a lawsuit.

  • ccrb1
    19 years ago

    Yet, here in Indianapolis, I know of a significant number of beekeepers in the city. And I'd suspect there are many there wherever you are Clare.

    City and neighborhood beekeepers don't make a big deal about their presence. So they can be hard to find.

    I live in the county, outside of town, but still in a small neighborhood of a dozen homes, starting at $250,000 in value. I keep 10 hives in my backyard, on slightly less than an acre.

  • ncbeegee
    18 years ago

    I'd put up an electric fence with the proper warning signs, explaining to anyone who was concerned that this was a deer/bear/moose/coyote/dog/cat/racoon/skunk/rabbit/badger/wolverine/ deterrent fence. Then I'd lie in wait and videotape the vandals who will ultimately try to destroy fence and/or hives, turn it over to the constabulary.

  • brendan_of_bonsai
    18 years ago

    I say the first thing you do is get yourself a good video camera and set some spotlights up that you can turn on to get a good veiw of the yard, then someohw rig a system to alert you and only you if someone knocks over the hive, maybe set up a doorbell circuit around the hive so that if its hit it trips a chime in your kitchen or bedroom or somewhere were you will hear it, it may cost you money but you can more than make up for it by sueing the pants off of the vandals when if they ruin your hive, and they need to be taught a lesson, if not for you then for scoiety, that said, most people know better than to mess with bees, they may not be dangerous but if you attack the hive they will get angry.

  • bejay9_10
    18 years ago

    I keep bees - but my concerns are the same as yours. While bees visit the yard all of the time, there is something about the way a hive looks, that seems to instill ?? in the minds of some folks.

    While the kids in my neighborhood are more into stripping cars (radios, speakers, tape players, etc.), they haven't ventured into stealing my trees. (thank goodness).

    However, for what it is worth, I've considered putting up a chain link dog kennel with my hive INSIDE the kennel. I have had to build a strong area to keep a couple of laying hens, and found a chain link cage (an Internet purchase) a good way to keep out predators, (coyotes, raccoons, etc.), but thought it might suffice to keep folks away from hives as well, and could be equipped with a padlock. The top could be left open for easy flight access, and any predators are kept at bay.

    This fencing is 6 ft. x 6 ft. x 4 ft. high, and would be easy enough to maneuver the hive when needed.

    Just my 2 cents.

    Bejay

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