First the birds, now the bees.
Wednesday night, by consensus, the Elgin City Council directed staff to come back with a proposal for allowing residents to keep honeybees. Since 2015 Elgin has been allowing a limited number of households to keep hens for laying eggs in their backyards — and recently upped that number of homes from 25 to 100.
The Council received a lesson in bees, beekeeping and other flying, stinging insects in a presentation from city communications specialist Molly Center and Larry Krengel, who has been keeping bees on his property in rural Marengo for more than 30 years. Krengel taught beekeeping classes at McHenry County and Lake County Community Colleges.
Krengel went over the differences between bees and other insects for which honeybees are frequently mistaken. Some, such as the yellowjacket, are aggressive at outdoor gatherings, particularly this time of year, Krengel said.
“Not everything that flies and stings is a honeybee. These insects all have different personalities,” Krengel said. “Honeybees are furry creatures and not particularly prone to stinging. They only sting when protecting their colony and die if they do sting.”
When honey bees swarm, far from being dangerous, Krengel said, “It’s the coolest thing on planet Earth, and the bees are in their most docile state.”
Bees swarm when looking for another place to locate. They make bee lines when they head out to forage for nectar and pollen, and the height at which the bees leave a colony can be controlled by putting in fencing or tall shrubs, Krengel said.
Krengel said that for more than 10 years, honeybee numbers have been depleting by what is called Colony Collapse Disorder, the cause of which remains a mystery. Possible explanations include a parasitic mite and the use of powerful insecticides, he said.
Allowing beekeeping might help replenish by spreading out bees to various locations, Krengel said.
Center said that Chicago has bee colonies on the roof at city hall and at least 11 other area towns allow beekeeping, including Bartlett, Naperville, St. Charles and West Dundee. While each has a varying set of regulations, the state requires beekeepers to register with the Illinois Department of Agriculture.
Council member Corey Dixon said he has had yellowjackets in his yard, and would be asking Krengel how to get rid of them. Dixon also asked Krengel what he thought sensible regulations might be for allowing beekeeping.
Krengel said measures could include setbacks, only allowing beekeeping in backyards and having a water source making it less likely bees would seek water from neighboring properties.
“I think (allowing beekeeping) is neat, and like chickens, not something I would do,” Council member Tish Powell said.
Powell said she would enjoy having local honey, as it has been known to help allergies.
Council member Rich Dunne said he knew of beekeeping going on just outside the city’s borders with no reported problems.
“I don’t see this as a being a big issue, as long as there are responsible controls put in place,” Dunne said.
Council member Terry Gavin said he has heard of beekeeping already going on in Elgin, but had not heard of a rash of calls about it. Instead of creating a new set of rules, Gavin suggested removing disallowing beekeeping from the city code.
The subject of beekeeping came before the Council after far northeast side resident Rizwan Arastu brought the topic to Elgin’s Sustainability Commission this summer.
Arastu said by phone Wednesday afternoon he became interested in beekeeping while majoring in biology at Princeton University in New Jersey. At school, he kept bees on the roof of the biology building.
“I don’t know why you would prohibit an activity that is not harmful or dangerous to the community,” Arastu said.
Krengel said that anyone considering keeping honeybees should become educated about the hobby. Beekeepers should expect to spend about $600 on supplies and another $300 on an initial supply of 10,000 to 12,000 bees to start a boxed colony in April or May.
When it comes to understanding the biology of bees, there’s a good deal to learn, Krengel said.
“I tell my classes that buying a box and bees is easy. You have to learn to manage them in a safe and sane way that’s fair to the bees,” he said.
