Nicholas Weaver , a resident of Cumming , Ga. , did everything right on before becoming a backyard beekeeper . The then-13 - class - old spoke with his neighbour to ensure they would n’t listen some new , buzzing tenant on his family unit ’s property . He went to Ithiel Town group meeting and asked if the metropolis had rules about beekeeping . ultimately , he check the local zoning laws himself , just to be sure he was in the clear — and when he discovered that his town and its county , Forsyth , had no zoning regulations for non - commercial apiarist , he forecast his bees would n’t be a problem .
For 11 years , Weaver was ripe . During that metre , he expanded from two beehives to six . Sometimes neighbors ask him to move a beehive onto their place to help pollinate their landscaping and backyard gardens . And his enchantment with bee grew : In 2007 , while he was still in mellow school , Weaver got a job in the Honey Bee Lab at the University of Georgia , where he ’s currently follow up on an undergraduate academic degree in biota .
But one eve last August , he come home to rule a note tacked to his room access with a request to call the county government . That ’s when he discovered that even if his residential area had no official city or county guideline about backyard beekeeping , he could still be ram to give up his hives . Citing an anonymous complaint , the county gave him five days to relocate his bees .
Explaining that he did n’t have another place to keep the bees , the county agreed to work with him on the timeframe as long as he could show that he was “ making advance . ” Next , Weaver call the codification - enforcement supervisor and asked to know which jurisprudence his bee had violated . He was directed to an existing rule about commercial message beekeeping under a Georgia nation Department of Agriculture law . But , Weaver debate , the law — specific to expectant - volume love sellers or beekeepers who sell bee — should n’t apply to him .
“ Those people have to get inspected , ” he says . finally he was directed to the county ’s Planning Commission , where he was told that the residential zoning codification contains a board sketch local urban - Agriculture Department guidelines — with no mention of hobby beekeeping . “ Any use not include in the table is up to the discernment of the director of the provision and partition department , ” he say .
Learning of the situation , other local backyard apiarist became concerned — if Weaver could be distinguish to remove his bees after having them for more than a decade , their beehive were n’t safe either . Word started to spread , and eventually reach Suzanne Geddes of The Cumming Harvest ( https://cumming.locallygrown.net/ ) , an online , topically originate market found in Cumming .
“ All of the farmers that I ’ve worked with have become my friends , and I know how important bees are to their farm , ” Geddes says . When she discovered beekeeper in her community were circulated a printed orison requesting a new practice of law to lease them keep their bees , she settle to found an online adaptation of the petition through Change.org . The response was prompt .
“ Since then , we kind of catch the care of the county commissioners . One of the county commissioners came to a ( beekeeper ’s ) meeting … now we ’re operate on transfer the development code to have something put in there about bees so they can be allowed , ” says Weaver .
District One County Commissioner Pete Amos , whose wife has keep bee as a hobby in the past , was the commissioner who serve that beekeeper ’s encounter . Before discover about Weaver ’s experience , he pronounce , he was n’t aware there were n’t any local dominion about backyard beekeeping . He supports the apiculturist ’ effort , and says he ’s been pleased with the chemical group ’s solitaire and willingness to influence for a satisfactory resolution .
Most importantly , Amos is affirmative that in five or six months , there will be newfangled law on the book that will be acceptable to county government as well as local beekeepers . The official physical process is set to begin with a meeting Dec. 9 , 2011 , when there will be a discourse of the law of nature neighboring counties have successfully created , along with recommendations from the local beekeeping residential area . The entire cognitive process should take about five or six months .
For Weaver , the possibility of a compromise is a alleviation — while the summons is underway , he ’ll be able to keep his bees in their current localisation . “ I am extremely confident that we will have a codification change that allows for beekeeping in our area , ” he says . And to his fellow beekeepers facing interchangeable situations , he offers this advice : start a postulation , and get both the media and the public involved . “ When it ’s just you last up against a system that has a different viewpoint , they ’re going to just hunt down right over you . ”
