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Beekeeping in Bonnyville

A Town of Bonnyville resident is going to find out what all the buzz is about when it comes to urban beekeeping. Town council approved a proposal for the installation of one beehive during their regular meeting on Tuesday, May 14.
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Town of Bonnyville resident Donna Busque’s approval to have a beehive on her property was approved by council at their May 14 meeting.

A Town of Bonnyville resident is going to find out what all the buzz is about when it comes to urban beekeeping.

Town council approved a proposal for the installation of one beehive during their regular meeting on Tuesday, May 14.

The municipality created a bylaw after receiving an inquiry in February 2017 from a town resident interested in studying bees. They created guidelines outlining requirements for urban beekeeping, which includes having a swarm and disease plan in place and a site plan with photos of the proposed hive. Setback requirements from public spaces such as playgrounds, sports fields, schools, and churches has also been incorporated.

The regulations were based on Edmonton and Calgary, who both had pilot projects in place at the time of the town’s review.

Resident Donna Busque, who submitted the application for a beehive to the municipality, wanted to ensure “things were done properly, because I didn’t want to create a problem.”

Beekeeping is regulated by the Alberta Bee Act, so Busque would be required to register her hive by the end of June.

Under the act, Busque had to tell her neighbours and include proof that they had been notified.  Only one neighbour wouldn’t sign, but he was informed of the hive.

Due to their habits, Busque believes the bees won’t affect the area greatly.

”Honeybees tend to go up and out. They forage at a distance, and they can forage as far as six miles away from the actual hive... Of course, different times of the day there will be clusters of bees around the hive, but if you’re not bothering them, they won’t bother you,” she explained.

If she was planning to inspect the hive, which would require her to open it, Busque would let her neighbours know and wear a bee suit to prevent being stung.

In the event that she needs to start a second hive, she will split it up by taking it to her sister-in-law’s property in the MD of Bonnyville.

It was instances of other hives in the area that had Coun. Brian McEvoy on board with the application.

”I’m quite satisfied with this, and that it’s good for the community and the whole area. There’s a lot of hives just outside of Bonnyville, and this isn’t going to cause any problems with anything.”

Busque shared a copy of the information needed for the town application with their peace officer, and let her neighbours know they could go to him if they had any concerns.

”I made sure that if they weren’t comfortable contacting me directly, that they could contact the peace officer and the Town of Bonnyville so they can see that it’s not something that I need to be an adversary on.”

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