On June 19, the City of Stanley Plan Commission held a meeting to discuss the conditional use permit for the keeping of bees applied for by Stanley residents, Matthew and Megan Wenzel, in order to collect honey and teach their children the art of beekeeping. As city residents and neighbors of the Wenzels, Keith and Kathy Marion and Lila Butterfield were in attendance to voice their displeasure of the potential approval of the permit. As public comment opened, Keith Marion quickly spoke up objecting to the location because of his allergy to bees and the allergy of several of his family members. 

“Why do we want to bring this many bees into the community especially right next door to our house?” he asked.

Commissioner Jim Erickson asked how far from the neighbor’s property would the hive be that the Wenzel’s would install, and it was determined from the permit application that the hive would potentially be 125 feet from the Wenzel property line. Commission members asked for the property boundary requirements of the City ordinance on bee keeping. According to City Ordinance 7-1-23 it says,

• No hive, stand or box where bees are kept shall be located closer than twenty (20) feet to any property boundary. Such hives, stands or boxes may only be located in the rear yard.
• If bee colonies are kept within fifty (50) feet of any exterior boundary of the property on which the hive, stand or box is located, a barrier that will prevent bees from flying through it, no less than five (5) feet high, shall be installed and maintained along said exterior boundary. Said barrier may be either a natural planting or artificial.

Lilah Butterfield, concerned for her grandchildren and family, asked who would be liable if something would happen to someone because of the bees. “The bees aren’t just going to stay in that area,” she commented on the proximity of her property to the hive. “So, if you give them a permit, who is liable for that? The city? Or would they (the applicants) be liable for that?

“I don’t know of anyone who would be liable for a bee sting,” Mayor Al Haas remarked.

“What will that do to our property value?” Keith Marion questioned as he wondered who would want to purchase their property if there is a close beehive.

As commission members mentioned that other Stanley residents also have beehives, Marion questioned if the applicants would take classes on beekeeping or if the city could find that out to which commission members remarked that they had no knowledge of what classes the applicants have taken or plan to take. Commissioner Dave Jankoski noted that it is hard to keep bees alive in the winter, so some knowledge of beekeeping is most likely needed if the Wenzels want their bees to survive.

“So now what will happen if I’m sitting out on my deck, and they see one of their bees fly over our fence into my yard and I kill that bee?” Marion questioned. 

“How will they know you killed it?” a commission member asked.

“Because they’d be watching,” Marion quickly answered.

“How will they know it’s their bee?” came the question from a plan commissioner.

Marion expressed his additional concern that the hive would attract other wildlife including bears and wondered why the hive couldn’t be on the farthest corner of their property.

As Matthew and Megan Wenzel weren’t present, the plan commission asked why they weren’t there in person and it was determined they are on vacation.

Citing an example of 9-year-old boy who died from a bee sting recently, Marion explained his position, “And I don’t want to see anybody get stung from a bee and die.”

“Well, there’s a lot of bees out there,” Haas said as he mentioned that he is impartial to the issue, but that bees can fly for miles. “There’s bees all over.”

“I just don’t feel like dying yet,” Marion declared citing the symptoms of his allergy to which the plan commission was sympathetic, but commissioner and city council member Jacob Huff explained that there is precedence for the permit of bee keeping.

 “There’s not really a lot we can do here to stop it,” Erickson answered adding that they could request that the applicants move the hive further back.

Butterfield then asked how long the permit is good for and how many hives they could keep.

It was determined that the permit is good for as long as they own the property and according to the application, the permit was only for one hive.

Butterflied reiterated her concern of the close proximity and concentration of bees regarding the permit. Commissioner Jason Isenberger, who was attending his first meeting, explained that from his research and experience this type of bees won’t bother you unless you disturb their hives or aggravate them.

 Huff reminded the residents that if a bee is on their property and they want to kill it, they won’t get in trouble. “Who knows where that bee came from? It could have been from Thorp, we don’t know,” he said explaining that they have a right to kill a bee on their property.

Further commission discussion explored that it is very hard to keep bees alive in the winter and that this meeting is only to recommend the approval of the permit as long as the conditions are upheld by the Wenzels.

Commissioner Erickson made a motion to approve the conditional use permit to keep bees with the request to move the hive as far as possible from the neighbors. It was quickly seconded, passed and was sent to the Stanley Common Council for approval where council members reviewed the permit application and approved it unanimously.