Tuckahoe Village Departments

TUCKAHOE TALK
With Mayor John Fitzpatrick

READER BEE - WARE

September, 2010

When a resident inquired of my office about the possibility of keeping honey bees in her backyard, I sarcastically bellowed at the request, “Obviously, a study should be done”. Those who know me recognize this is my way of stating my distaste for many of the politicians who surround us. If every question that was posed to the Village Board required a study and then a definitive answer from that study, the Board would make few or no decisions.

More often than not, some political body has already conducted a study on almost any issue one could contemplate. So all you have to do is a little research. I will confess, however, when I decided to look for studies of honey bees in Tuckahoe - I came up short. I did find many studies on the issues facing our national honey bee population. Studies have been done by as many groups as you could name, including the US Geological Survey and even the Congressional Research Service.

It seems all studies conclude that the honey bee population is experiencing colony losses. Overall, the number of managed honey bee colonies has dropped from 5 million in the1940s to only 2.5 million today. The most significant decrease to the population has occurred since 2006. This is only important since the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) frequently asserts that bee pollination is involved in about one-third of the U.S. diet. While many insects are responsible for pollination, honey bees are considered the most economically valuable pollinators of agricultural crops worldwide.

Both locally and globally, there are concerns that honey bee stocks are not keeping pace with growing agricultural demands. In 2006, reports began coming in of an “alarming” number of bee colony losses and die-off along the East Coast and West Coast. Available estimates indicated that beekeepers in 35 states, including New York, are being impacted. Due to the severity and lack of precedent, scientists decided they need to give this phenomenon a name - Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).

Honey bee colony losses are not uncommon. There is plenty of documentation noting honey bee population losses due to parasites, pathogens, and disease. Most of the reported colony losses are among large commercial operations. Transportation of colonies two to five times during a growing season may also be stressing the bees, since losses up to 30% are reported. The current disorder may merely be the result of this stress, which increases the colony’s susceptibility to disease. Other reasons for bee colony decline could include competition between native and introduced bees, habitat loss, invasive plant species that reduce nectar and pollen producing vegetation, and pesticides.

There have also been strange colony losses before. In 1903, in Utah, 2000 colonies were lost to an unknown "disappearing disease". More recently, in 1996, Pennsylvania beekeepers lost 53 percent of their colonies without a specific identifiable cause. Scientific literature has other mentions of honey bee disappearances—in the 1880s, the 1920s and the 1960s. While descriptions sound similar to CCD, there is no way to know for sure if the problems were caused by the same agents as today's CCD.

I’m not sure bee keeping even on a large scale is profitable. Rental fees paid by farms to introduce bees in the 1990’s were $35 a colony. In 2005 the cost was $75, and more recently it is $150 a colony. I don’t know if this is outrageous or not. Could the high price of honey, the larger agro business or the lack of bees be driving the price? I couldn’t say.

On a small scale a well managed colony in a decent area should produce about 100 lbs. of honey per year. A typical hive or colony can have 15,000 to 40,000 bees. It takes 8 to 10 pounds of nectar to make a pound of honey or a pound of beeswax. To produce a pound of honey, bees travel about 55,000 miles, and visit some 2 million flowers. One bee produces less than one quarter teaspoon honey in a lifespan while the average American consumes about 1.3 lbs. of honey per year. At approximately $3.00 per lb. retail, maybe the only real value is an opportunity to practice the age old art of beekeeping.

Currently, Tuckahoe has no specific or implied restrictions that could be found by our lawyers on bee keeping. Since it does ban keeping chickens and roosters and a slew of other things, one must wonder how the bees escaped. I am sure communities with no specific law could attempt to prosecute bee keepers as a public nuisance or a threat to public health, but given all documentation illustrating how much benefit bees provide to society, that would seem a clear railroading of the honey beekeeper. I can’t see anybody being able to make the same case for other insects or animals.

In March, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene removed non-aggressive honey bees (Apis mellifera) from the health codes register of venomous insects and other prohibited animals, thereby lifting the Giuliani-era imposed ban. Citing the substantial benefits of honey bees, this ruling opened the way for roof top and urban beekeeping. Despite the conventional view of city pollution, urban honey is likely to have significantly less chemical residue than honey produced beyond the boroughs, partly due to lower levels of pesticides within the city.

I am well aware that some in our world are highly allergic to bees. I realize that having a large number of bees flying around may seem a nuisance, or to some even dangerous. But guess what? They are already flying around. Personally, if I had to choose between moronic neighbors who walk around noisily blowing things for hours at a time, or others who would pave their grass to park cars, I believe I would choose a beekeeper.