Help+support

[Easy Beesy]

Sorry for repeat guys - not quite awake yet. That'll teach me to reply, knee-jerk fashion, when exasperated.

 

[Dishmop]

Well, BeeJoyful!


The chap is asking for help.
Any chance you could give him some?

No one else seems to have.


Dusty

I cant see that he can be given any more advice than he has already had.

His case relates directly to the situation I encounterd and I have described how I dealt with it.
Thats it really. End of story.
In his case I cant see that at this time of year the neighbour can complain about a nuisance of masses of bees etc and if the council actually came and saw for themselves, they might then see that the neighbour has very little to complain about.
However, what it boils down to is if the council does have a rule, or has interpreted their rules as meaning that one cannot keep bees at that property.
The fact that the bees have been there for a few years without complaint doesnt mean that the tenant cannot now be told that they have to go, but if the council were approached in a civilised manner I feel that they may take this into consideration and be persuaded that any problems have only arisen because of one particular cretin who had on a previous occasion/s said that they did not mind the bees being there.
My thoughts are that the change in attitude by the neighbour may have been brought on by that there may perhaps at some time be grandchildren visiting???
or that they are just *******.

If it can be established that the council do not have a rule of no bees I think it is really their duty to investigate and talk to other nearby residents, but even if they dont have a no bees rule doesnt mean that they cant tell you to get rid of them.
When the first council people came to see me they told me that they had been standing at the side of my property for some time observing the situation and as far as they were concerned, there wasnt a problem. They came and stood in the garden with the bees, and were very interested and suprised at how close they could get to the hives as long as they stayed out of the flight path.

At one time council tennants were allowed to keep 2(?) chickens for the eggs but I dont know if that is still allowed.
There were rules that said lino must not be fitted closer than 9" to the wall.
There are rules about drilling holes for shelves..... and it goes on and on.

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Well, BeeJoyful!


The chap is asking for help.
Any chance you could give him some?

No one else seems to have.


Dusty

I cant see that he can be given any more advice than he has already had.

Oh, I see! You're playing at 's advocate.

Dusty

 

[Curt123]

Thanks dishmop and everyone I will look though all the threads.

Dishmop a man from the council came to see for another matter stated he couldn't find anything about bees in the agreement booklet. But it's say no farm animals so really I'm not
Allowed to keep chicken.
I have just moved the bees away from the neighour and I will see if I get any more complaints. The housing officer turned blind eye to the farms animal.

Once again thanks everyone. Thorne my agreement will on of the link or threads that others have posted.

 

[Curt123]

Hi just to let everyone know.
1. I have still got my bees
2 there is no law or bye laws about keeping bees in your yard.
So the council can't do anything.

 

[Bitbybit]

 

[Dishmop]

Glad to hear you ave got something sorted out,
but,

the council may still be able to tell you to move them if they are deemed to be causing a nuisance.
The correct way for this to operate is that neighbours who complain should be given a form to fill out with all the instances of nuisance with times and dates etc.
However, my thoughts are that neighbours might not get too far with this as they would have to somehow prove that the bee that they reported to be in their house at lunchtime was actually a honey bee. (unles they killed it) and that it was one of yours. The swarm in their hedge is not yours because all yours are still there. Come and have a look.
I pointed out to the bloke here that under the law, once the bees left my garden they were not mine. Not sure if thats exactly true tho.

 

[itma]

Hi just to let everyone know.
1. I have still got my bees
2 there is no law or bye laws about keeping bees in your yard.
So the council can't do anything.

Unfortunately, it seems that you have failed to take notice of lots of good advice that has been offered in this thread.


There are two quite different legal problems that you may face with the Council.
And both are potentially very serious.
It is important that you understand clearly what they are, and that they are different.


A/ There are laws that prevent you doing things that cause a significant nuisance to your neighbours. Such as keeping bees in an irresponsible manner. These laws apply whoever owns the property. The council can get a Court Order to force the removal of the bees if they are causing a nuisance. But they do have to prove that they are being kept in an UNreasonable manner - too many bees for the space or an unskilled and uncaring (for the neighbours) beekeeper.
Disobeying such a Court Order could, in theory, lead to a fine and/or prison - as well as the removal of the bees.


B/ As a Council tenant, your occupancy of the property is governed by a legal agreement. If you break that agreement, and continue to do so after being told to stop, then the Council have the legal basis to throw you out of the house.
The legal meaning of the contents of that agreement have absolutely nothing to do with how Wikipedia might define the word "livestock" or any other.
You might consider that if Council officials were to inspect your beekeeping operation, they might only then discover that you are keeping chickens and decide to issue a ban on them as well.


If you do not believe me, or others that have tried to help you avid trouble, then go immediately to the Citizens Advice Bureau or pay your own choice of lawyer for his opinion.

Your best hope is to prevent there being objections from your neighbours.
Any confrontation with the neighbours will not help you.

 

[Hombre]

Beware, for the price of a very cheap jar of honey, your neighbour could prove conclusively that your bees were a nuisance to them, with a spray here and there and bees all over the place when the council man called.

Video evidence of the problem would really burst your bubble and could be accomplished on just one sunny afternoon. I only have to drop a piece of bee keeping equipment in the front of the house to get interest from the bees at this time of year. Complacency could be your undoing. As they say, you need to develop a good relationship with your new neighbours.

Have fun.

I take it that you clip your queens?

 

[Dishmop]

As they say, you need to develop a good relationship with your new neighbours.

and more so with the other neighbours who you get on OK with, because if the council go around and ask, as they did in my case, you might need them. Most of the people here said that hadnt noticed any problems and/or were not aware that anybody around the area kept bees.
Ask them if their children would like to come and see the bees.
The council here were aware of the fact that somebody was trying to drum up a bit of support to complain about me.
The bloke who told me that they had to go had I think, exceeded his authourity.

 

[Curt123]

Hi I'm back again to let you know the council has been back in touch yesterday
After around 7 months. The good news the council can't stop me from keeping bees in my backyard. win win

 

[Dishmop]

Hi I'm back again to let you know the council has been back in touch yesterday
After around 7 months. The good news the council can't stop me from keeping bees in my backyard. win win

They can if theres enough justifiable complaints about them causing a nuisance, but it involves a lot of work on their behalf, and as they are so underpaid and overstressed with the job, its too much agrro.

Good for you anyway.
Neighbours will forget about them over the winter when the bees
arent flying.

 

[user 6228]

Maybe you need your neighbours requeened

 

[drstitson]

as above - if they are causing a nuisance they can force you to get rid of them.

my advice would be to ensure you prevent swarms and perhaps look into simple measures to force bees up and away from near neighbours eg windbreak mesh between a couple of posts.

 

[starflex]

Do you have a fall-back plan? Home apiaries can upset the locals, and a pre-arranged second apiary really should be available to use, should things go wrong.

I usually have a nuc, or two, in the back garden. Occasionally SWMBO puts her foot down and I end up having to move them out to my farm site at short notice!

 

[Nige.Coll]

i haven't read the thread all the way through . did you join l&rbka?

 

[Outlander]

Oh Nigel read the thread and you to will be enlightened.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

or retreat into a dark place!

 

[Nige.Coll]

 

[pargyle]

or retreat into a dark place!

Goodness .... it's a real blast from the past this thread - don't know if I've got the will or stamina to go back over it !!