Bee Kind Committee Suggested Policy Changed

The following was proposed to the board by the Bee Kind Commitee on Feb 7, 2023. The policy was rejected at the February 16th 2023 board meeting.

Bee kind update:

Everyone in the bee kind committee (which is growing) agrees on the case being made and that we should keep bees at MakeICT.

There have been concerns that the committee addressed:

Fear of bees/ bee stings; there are 60 people a year in the US that die in relation to stinging insects. This is unfortunate, but could happen with a wild insect on any property. If warnings are posted on the hives, we are not liable for bee stings. We also read that honey bees are not normally aggressive, but in talking to an expert decided that a 4’ locked fence would prevent all concerns of negative interactions or accidents. The apiarist also recommended keeping benadryl on hand for emergencies, ladeana also recommended another over the counter antihistamine.

We have a licensed apiarist who is willing to be responsible for the bees on site. He thinks that the site is great for bees with the stream and doesn’t think they will interfere with events. He is able to perform inspections, make decisions (medical as well as feeding and honey harvesting), and if necessary remove the hive. The hives as well as the bees would be on loan to the space as an educational tool and we would use the existing equipment loan agreement for both the bees and the hives with an annual renewal period. He recommends that we could easily keep 6 or 8 hives, but said that we could possibly keep a couple regular hives as well as an example of a caught swarm and a hive removed from a local property. He said we could check with our insurance, but they have never cared about him keeping any number of hives on any property. There is also no such thing as insurance against bee stings.

The county extension office says there are not regulations restricting our ability to keep bees on the state, county, or local Wichita level. They commented that exploration place, the Sedgwick County Zoo, and multiple public schools keep hives and Wichita was just declared bee city!

Bees are essential pollinators. Without commercial European honey bees there are many crops that couldn’t be produced as they are now.

Honey bees have issues including exposure to pesticides, invasive predators, added pests, and shifting nectar schedules. All of these issues can be helped by increased education, increased husbandry, and good natural bee keeping practices that we can provide.

MakeICT is uniquely capable to provide natural beekeeping education to the public and new beekeepers. We can also provide shared space to store shared beekeeping equipment and help with harvesting, packing and understanding regulations.

We are requesting permission to keep multiple hives behind a locked 4’ chain link fence on the east side of the building. All bees and hives would be the responsibility of the beekeeper that loans them to MakeICT. All bee maintaining activities should be posted so the public can know when the hives will be opened. All hives will have warnings on them as well as warnings on the fence/ gate and only authorized members would have access to keys to the “apiary”. There would be stipulations added to the notes of the equipment loan agreement to state that all responsibility would be that of the Apiarist and that the honey would all belong to the apiarist and it would be their decision to donate to whomever helps whatever products the keeper desires. Bee kind committee will also mow the area around the apiary.

On the whole, beekeeping is a net positive for MakeICT, our community and our neighborhood. It will draw new members who like bees, are looking for a new hobby/ craft as well as further getting our name advertised and help people who have irrational fears of insects.

Please vote whether we should allow bee hives on site.

If hives are approved: please vote if we can continue using existing loan forms.

And: please vote if we can physically start construction on an apiary area as outlined above (east side of building, apiarist advisement, etc.)