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posted by janrinok on Friday October 16 2015, @04:57AM   Printer-friendly
from the helpful-critters-are-welcome dept.

MyNewsLA reports

The Los Angeles City Council voted [October 14] to allow backyard beekeeping, joining cities like Santa Monica, New York, Denver, and other cities where the hobby is legal.

[...] Councilman Paul Koretz [....] said bees "do especially well in Los Angeles" and Wednesday's move could help address bee colony collapse disorder which has claimed about a third of the global bee population.

[...] City leaders and members of HoneyLove, a nonprofit that promotes beekeeping, said the activity aids urban farming efforts such as community gardens. They also said urban areas offer a pesticide-free environment for insects that are critical to the health of agriculture and plants.

[...] The ordinance allows no more than one hive per 2,500 square feet per lot area to be kept in the backyards of single-family homes citywide. Front yard beekeeping is barred by the ordinance.

It also sets buffer zones and areas on a property where hives can be kept and requires that beekeepers raise walls or hedges high enough to ensure bees need to fly up before leaving the backyard.

A water source also needs to be maintained near the hives so the bees would not need to venture outside of the beekeeper's backyard to get hydrated, under the rules.

The backyard beekeepers also need to register with the County of Los Angeles Agricultural Commission.

The commission has 129 beekeepers registered with 219 locations countywide, according to commission spokesman Ken Pellman. Of those registered, 39 are commercial beekeepers, which means they have eight or more hives.

[...] Los Angeles already averages about eight to 10 feral bee hives per square mile.


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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Ayn Anonymous on Friday October 16 2015, @05:40AM

    by Ayn Anonymous (5012) on Friday October 16 2015, @05:40AM (#250427)

    If you plan do have your own bees, don't ask a commercial beekeeper how to do it.
    Commercial beekeeping is abusive and labour intense.
    The easy and non-abusive way of beekeeping is:
    - A two chamber system (I forgot the exact name) where only the second chamber get "harvested" after the swarm expanded to the second chamber.
    - Warré’s beekeeping: http://www.natural-beekeeping.co.uk/ [natural-beekeeping.co.uk] (still about 10-15 kg honey per hive)

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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by frojack on Friday October 16 2015, @07:54AM

    by frojack (1554) on Friday October 16 2015, @07:54AM (#250451) Journal

    What do you do with that much honey?
    I wouldn't consume a KG of honey in a year, let alone 10.

    Where I live, in Washington State, Mason bees are common for home owners, because just a few of them will pollinate the apples and cherries that just about everybody has in their yard. They don't seem to make much honey, are very docile, and jump out early in the spring when the fruit trees flower. You can build nests them with just about any block of wood with nothing but a drill, make holes, nail it up, order your bees or get them from your neighbor.

    --
    No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Geezer on Friday October 16 2015, @09:51AM

      by Geezer (511) on Friday October 16 2015, @09:51AM (#250473)

      Mead. Make mead. It's yummy.

      • (Score: 1) by rufty on Friday October 16 2015, @09:02PM

        by rufty (381) on Friday October 16 2015, @09:02PM (#250849)

        Mead, honey dissolved in water and fermented. Cyser, honey dissolved in apple juice and fermented. Be careful!

    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Friday October 16 2015, @11:02AM

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Friday October 16 2015, @11:02AM (#250486) Journal

      You can go through a lot of honey if you use it as your sole source of sugar. I can go through half that just using it for baking bread (to wake up the yeast).

      --
      Washington DC delenda est.