TRAVERSE CITY -- Traverse City officials approved a proposal to allow urban beekeeping within the city on Monday night.
Commissioners voted to amend zoning rules which will allow city residents to have up to two honey bee colonies or hives per property. The idea was initially brought up in may by a group of interested community members.
Since then, the commission says they have done a lot of research on the practice. Community members at Monday night’s meeting were very supportive of the idea and are happy with the outcome.
Kima Kraimer is a Traverse City resident and was very involved in helping the city with its research. Kraimer is a beekeeper, who happens to be allergic to bees, but she’s all for the idea. She says, “To have bee keeping in Traverse City just bring Traverse City up to par with the rest of the world. It’s a very old tradition and it’s been practiced for thousands of years. Most people don’t have the luxury of a large backyard in an urban area, like we have in Traverse City.”
The city has set some restrictions to make it safe including requiring a 25 foot set-back from neighboring homes and requiring barriers to prevent the bees from flying away. Traverse City residents will be allowed to start beekeeping on December 13th.
