Local body moves to protect residents from showers of bee poo are being given a tick of approval by Mountain View Honey’s beekeeper Lindy Bennett.
Lindy Bennett approves of bee keeping guidance notes for Ōtorohanga and Kāwhia beekeepers. Photo: Chris Gardner
Ōtorohanga District Council has included the guidance notes for beepers in the Otorohanga and Kāwhia townships in a planned revision of its Keeping of Stock, Poultry and Bees Bylaw.
“Honeybees going on orientation, foraging or cleaning flights often excrete after exiting the hive,” the guidance notes say. “This can leave distinct trails of excrement within a 500-metre radius of the hive and can cause a nuisance to neighbours.”
Pirongia based Bennett keeps 50 hives across the Waikato and Bay of Plenty, and says it is great to see something being put in place to encourage responsible beekeeping in town — “especially as more people get interested in keeping a hive or two in their backyard”.
Bee excrement is typically yellow to brown and can be hard to remove from clothing, vehicles and buildings.
The Ōtorohanga guidelines explain that hives can be re-positioned on the property or rotated to provide flight paths in a direction away from neighbouring properties.
Ōtorohanga beekeeper Natasha Southgate says a proposed new bylaw requiring beekeepers to manage the flightpath of bees is silly.
“Overall, the guidance notes look solid and cover the key things hobbyist beekeepers need to know,” Bennett said.
The draft revision to the bylaw’s guidance notes say honeybees can be encouraged to fly above head height if a flyway barrier, two or more metres tall, is placed near the hive entrance.
“It is important that flightpaths are not directed across public pathways on private and public land.”
Ōtorohanga regulatory and growth group manager Tony Quickfall told the June council meeting the beekeeping guidance notes were based on best practice from Waipā District Council which had engaged a subject matter expert some years ago.
Marianne Sager, of Gradara Avenue, Ōtorohanga, told The News she has resorted to cleaning bee poo from her windows daily with a scraper in the height of the summer.
But she was philosophical with her lot, accepting that bee poo was the price paid for pollination and honey.
While her neighbour used to keep bees, he no longer did, and her windows still got dirtied by bees.
Consultation is open on what the council is now calling the Animal Nuisance Bylaw 2025 until August 8. The council will deliberate on submissions and decide on the final draft on August 26 before the new bylaw comes into effect in September.
See: Face the other way
Bees
