Ōtorohanga beekeeper Natasha Southgate says a proposed new bylaw requiring beekeepers to manage the flightpath of bees is silly.
Mountain View Honey’s beekeeper Lindy Bennett approves of new bee excrement and flight path management guidelines being considered for her King Country counterparts.
Ōtorohanga District Council has included the guidance notes for bee keepers in the Otorohanga and Kawhia 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.”
Bee excrement is typically yellow to brown and can be hard to remove from clothing, vehicles and buildings.
“Hives can be re-positioned on the property or rotated to provide flight paths in a direction away from neighbouring properties.”
Pirongia based Bennett, who keeps 50 hives across the Waikato and Bay of Plenty, said: “Overall, the guidance notes look solid and cover the key things hobbyist beekeepers need to know.
“It’s 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.”
The draft revision to the bylaw’s guidance notes say honeybees will fly at head height for some distance from their hives unless their surrounding environment directs their flight path upwards.
“Honeybees can be encouraged to fly above head height if a flyway barrier, two or more metres tall, is placed one to two metres out from the front of the hive entrance. It is important that flightpaths are not directed across public pathways on private and public land. Barriers that can be used include shrubs or trees, a wall, a hedge or a fence.”
Ōtorohanga regulatory and growth group manager Tony Quickfall told the June monthly 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.
“To be honest, I can’t see how adding a two-metre flyway barrier will make any difference,” she said.
While her neighbour used to keep bees, he no longer did, and her windows still got dirtied by bees.
Kāwhia/Tihiroa councillor and hobby apiarist Kit Jeffries said bee excrement could be hard to remove.
“It can be quite a bit of a pain,” he said. “It does tend to stick to things. If you have ever had to get it off your car you need to use some sort of alcohol.”
Natalie Southgate has kept bees in her Phillips Avenue, Ōtorohanga, garden for three years and has two hives but is not a supporter of the proposed revision of the bylaw.
“Everybody’s situation is different,” she said. “I’ve never had problem with excrement at all.
“I don’t face hives towards any buildings and my neighbours are happy and get the occasion jar of honey too.
Southgate is raising funds to install hives at Ōtorohanga Primary School.
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.
