Geneva neighbors in middle of beehive brouhaha

The honey bees in Richard Fobes’ back yard make a soft buzz as they fly in and out of their hives in the 500 block of Logan Avenue in Geneva.

The two hives are situated a couple feet from a row of arbor vitae and privet hedge right in front of the fence.

A 20-foot-long pollinator garden offers purple coneflower, red and yellow firewheel, cleome, mauve Joe Pye weed, red bee balm, blue borage and deep pink asters – all attractive to pollinators.

Shallow saucers hold water for the bees, each with wood planks so they don’t fall in and drown.

But neighbor Alicia Hines said her life has not been the same since Fobes and his bees moved in on June 30, 2023.

She asked the alderpersons to consider regulations.

Staff is to bring a draft nuisance ordinance that would possibly limit the number of bees allowed, as well as on-site water source requirements.

With apologies to Shakespeare, this is a case of to beekeep or not to beekeep – that is the question.

Honey bees

“I have lived in this house 20 years,” Hines said. “The minute he put those bees down, the bees were all swarming into my yard and in my hot tub area. They go to my birdbaths, to any source of water.”

Hines said she was allergic to bee stings because she was stung once and her whole back leg swelled up.

She now carries an EpiPen.

“I have 20 years of gardening...if everything is in bloom, they are just swarming my flowers...I have clover and a carpet of honey bees,” Hines said. “The last thing I want is issues with my neighbor.”

Hines disputes that Fobes was providing enough water sources for his bees, as he asked her to dump her birdbaths for a week so his bees would be redirected to other water sources in his yard.

At her request, she said he also moved the hives to the other side of the yard, away from her fence.

“There is a place for bees, but not on small city lots,” Hines said.

‘Beekeeping as not a nuisance’

Hines spoke at a special Committee of the Whole meeting July 1.

Fobes and fellow urban beekeeper John Mazur followed up at an Aug. 19 City Council meeting.

Fobes countered his neighbor’s complaint and Mazur urged alderpersons not to create an ordinance to regulate beekeeping.

“Beekeeping is not a nuisance,” Mazur said.

Fobes said he began keeping bees in April 2021 as a hobby to do with his son, who is now 12. At the time, they lived in Oak Park.

“I’ve grown to love it for many reasons, one of which is that I get to experience it with my son,” Fobes said.

While St. Charles, Batavia and Kane County have beekeeping regulations in place, Geneva does not.

“I was advised by the city, at the time, since there was no ordinance pertaining to beekeeping, it was allowed,” Fobes said, before moving here.

In his first encounter with Hines, she showed him a video of bees drinking water from her birdbath, he said.

“She was upset and concerned about safety and concerned that these were my bees,” Fobes said.

Though there was no way to confirm they were his, Fobes said he gave her the benefit of the doubt and said he would put more water sources in his yard. He moved the hives 100 feet away from her fence.

Fobes said he tried to ease her fears by explaining that honey bees are docile “and utterly disinterested in bothering people when they’re engaged in foraging activities.”

“I have since extended a few olive branches to her. I brought over homemade brownies. I brought Christmas cookies,” Fobes said. “I have heard nothing from her since that first week that I moved in about 13 months ago.”

Mazur, a member of the Fox Valley Beekeepers Association, disagreed that beekeeping is a nuisance and should be regulated, or that non-native honey bees can damage native pollinators.

Native pollinators seek specific native plants; non-native plants are useless to them, Mazur said.

“There seems to be a trend on the internet that we have to encourage native pollinators and that is by controlling honey bees,” Mazur said. “That does not make sense. Bring back the native plants for the native pollinators.”

Regarding his advice not to regulate beekeeping, Mazur said, “I think beekeepers should manage their beekeeping in such a way that their neighbors are not bothered much or at all.”

‘The most responsible path’

For 1st Ward Alderperson Anaïs Bowring, settling a neighbor dispute is not her job to resolve.

“I hear and understand their perspectives,” Bowring said, as she spoke with both Hines and Fobes.

“From a policy viewpoint, what is the most responsible path Geneva can take, balancing people’s interest in pursuing hobbies in their yards with adjacent property owners able to feel comfortable and safe in their yards?” Bowring said.

Are there negative impacts of urban beekeeping and do they rise to the level of being regulated, Bowring said.

“Should the City of Geneva, an urban area, permit or restrict in some way, urban beekeeping?” Bowring said. “I am committed to explore the issue and understand all sides of it.”

Consideration of a beekeeping ordinance has not yet been scheduled for committee consideration.