Man 'sick of being harassed by aggressive bees' takes battle to Hobart council
A man who says he is "sick of being harassed and attacked" by "aggressive bees" at his home in Hobart's north wants the council to amend laws enacted two years ago that made backyard beekeeping easier.
New Town resident Ben Lohberger, whose home is just 3 kilometres from the city centre, has called on the Hobart City Council to review its urban beekeeping by-laws, which lifted restrictions on backyard hives just two years ago.
Mr Lohberger said he and his wife had been "chased out of their yard" by bees kept in the neighbourhood several times in the past year, with visitors to his house also affected.
"My wife and I were having a cuppa in our yard four weeks ago, before bees descended on us and stung her on the face," Mr Lohberger said.
"I'm sick of being harassed and attacked in my own backyard by … aggressive bees."
Under the current by-laws, beehives must be 3 metres away from a boundary fence and facing away from a neighbouring property.
Backyard beekeepers are also expected to follow the Southern Beekeepers Association's non-compulsory code of practice.
Mr Lohberger said he did not blame neighbourhood beekeepers for the bees' hostility, but said the by-laws should be revisited to give residents the right to veto a neighbour's beekeeping if there were regular attacks, or if someone had an allergy to bee stings.
Mr Lohberger raised his concerns at the first meeting of the new Hobart City Council on Monday.
His fight to have the conditions under which people can keep bees in Hobart tightened comes just days after a cricket match in New Norfolk, north-west of Hobart, was interrupted by a swarm of bees, forcing players from both teams and both umpires to drop to the ground until they had passed.
Witness Josh Walsh said spectators "thought it was hilarious".
"We didn't know what was going on," he said.
"The sight of seeing everyone drop was really funny and I only stopped laughing when the bees came towards us."
No injuries were reported.
Few bee complaints reported, Council says
Hobart City Council Alderman Bill Harvey, who first moved the motion to make backyard beekeeping easier, said complaints were dealt with on a case-by-case basis and all beekeepers in the Hobart city area must be registered.
He said there were about 260 keepers on the books, but that the Council had heard very few complaints about neighbourhood bees.
"What we do have is a growth in the number of backyard vegetable patches and people wanting to plant fruit trees and be part of a sustainability push for Hobart," he said.
"From a food security perspective, bees are hugely important for pollination."
Southern Beekeepers Association president Peter Norris said most bees would not become aggressive when given the right care.
"It all comes down to the genetics of the bee. Some bees are docile and some bees are quite aggressive," he said.
"It's up to the beekeeper to make sure they're keeping the right strain of bee and working their bees on a nice sunny day to make sure they aren't going to become agitated."
Mr Norris said when it comes to keeping neighbours happy, European bees were the best bet.
"The Italian bees are renowned for being docile," he said.