ST. GEORGE — Cedar City resident and Utah House Rep. Rex P. Shipp is sponsoring a bill he said would reduce restrictions on the Beehive State’s beekeepers.
“(Beekeeping) is really critical for agricultural industry — need to pollinate flowers and gardens and fruit trees and even peach trees,” he said. “And so, I think it’s important that we support this and protect private property rights to have a beehive.”
Shipp chose to sponsor the bill, designated HB 297 in the 2024 state Legislature, after speaking with his constituent, Blaine Nay, who raised concerns about restrictive beekeeping ordinances. Nay is a beekeeper and bee inspector for Washington and Iron counties.
“We have a lot of counties and cities and towns in Utah — in the Beehive State — that have some restrictions on beekeeping,” Nay told St. George News. “Some of them are pretty harsh.”
For instance, Ivins City prohibits beehives within 200 feet of residents’ property lines, and Nay said, “That’s a ban on beekeeping” for those who don’t live on multiacre lots.
LaVerkin prohibits beehives on properties smaller than an acre and limits the number of hives to two per acre. Springdale also limits the number of hives to two per acre but limits the maximum number of hives to four.
Springdale requires property owners to construct 6-foot high flyway barriers that are 25 feet in length between the hives and the property line. Hives must be at least 15 feet from the barriers and 30 feet from the property line, according to the Utah Bee Ordinances.
“I think that’s a bad law,” Nay said. “What these laws do is they drive the people underground, and that’s a problem for beekeeping because we have some really, really bad diseases and a couple of parasites. … When these local statutes drive the people underground, I can’t find (the beekeepers) to help them.”
Terry Camp, vice president of public policy for the Utah Farm Bureau Federation, said they support the bill at a Feb. 1 hearing of the bill in the House Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee.
“We’re concerned about having a patchwork of ordinances all over the state,” he said. “A lot of times, farmers request bees to come onto their lands for pollination purposes or to a specific orchard. And if a beekeeper has to figure out every policy and every ordinance of every city and town, it could create a really cumbersome environment. We think state law covers this well.”
Karson Eilers, policy director with the Utah League of Cities and Towns, discussed the league’s concerns.
“One of the challenges many urban communities face as they try to enable more beekeeping is trying to ensure that the property rights of one property owner don’t infringe on the property rights of another owner,” he said. “So, for example, if you have smaller communities — I live on a 3,000 square-foot lot in Salt Lake City. If I have bees that are on the fence line in my backyard, my neighbor’s house is immediately next door, and it could affect their property rights, as well.”
Eilers said the league is working with Shipp to introduce a substitute bill with additional language that would “find a balance in those communities — to have some kind of reasonable policies for local control.”
While bees are classified as livestock, Nay said they’re “horrible pets” and cannot be contained to one area like other animals.
“Bees can’t be fenced in,” he said. “They’ve got to fly. And they will readily fly 3 miles. If there’s not much blooming, they’ll go 8 miles.”
House Rep. Gay Bennion said some cities are concerned that property owners would not be limited in the number of beehives that could be placed on a single lot. For instance, could a person keep multiple hives on a quarter-acre lot?
Shipp said the bill would not restrict the number of hives on a property but that the current wording allows local governments to contact the state if necessary to address such issues. He is also willing to consider introducing additional language to assuage these concerns.
Camp said the bill creates a “great balance and is a honey of a bill.”
“Except as authorized by the state, no governmental entity may adopt or enforce any restriction relating to the raising of bees on private property that is more restrictive than the restrictions in this chapter,” the bill reads.
Promoting pollinators
Shipp said healthy bees can mitigate the spread of Africanized hives.
The Utah County Beekeeper’s Association concurs, stating that managed hives of European honey bees are the “first and best defense against an area becoming Africanized.”
“Managed bees dilute the AHB (Africanized honey bee) gene pool reducing aggressiveness, prevent AHB take over of European honey bee hives, and AHBs are less attracted to areas where other foragers exist,” the association stated.
There are established colonies of Africanized honey bees in Iron, Kane, Washington and Garfield counties, among others, according to the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.
However, according to the Xerces Society of Invertebrate Conservation, while honey bees don’t always harm native species, they can “be a problem.” Honey bees are nonnative to North America and can compete with and spread diseases to native species, many of which are at risk of extinction.
“Managed honey bees are domesticated livestock, and their very presence has the potential to harm native species,” the nonprofit stated.
Xerces encourages individuals to create pollinator habitats to support both honey bees and native pollinators.
“Creating pollinator habitat has broad benefits from increasing biodiversity to combating climate change, and such habitat can be situated anywhere — in backyards, on balconies and porches, on rooftops, in office landscapes, in local parks and community gardens,” the nonprofit wrote.
The bill received a unanimous recommendation from the House Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee. It still needs to pass in the House and Senate and receive Gov. Spencer Cox’s signature before it becomes law.
Check out all of St. George News’ coverage of the 2024 Utah Legislature by clicking here.
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