Insurance/Neighbours and Stings

[moby]

My Neighbour was stung a few days ago, now while I have tried to set things up to try and prevent such an occurance inevitably someone will get stung, while she was quite ok about being stung and she is aware how impotant the preservation of bees are I am sure her understanding will wear thin if it happens again. Is there any third party insurance that will cover me should someone decide to sue?

 

[Headnavigator]

How would she know it was one of your bees?

 

[VEG]

Find an out apiary its so much easier.

 

[Midland Beek]

BBKA membership includes Third Party liability insurance. However, there is an onus on the owner of bees to place his/her hives somewhere where people will not get stung, and you have already failed in that respect.

 

[Winker]

How would she know it was one of your bees?

Ask for proof it was one of yours first

 

[VEG]

If you go down the route of getting them to prove it was one of yours then it will only escalate into some sort of neighbour dispute. The beekeeper has a right to keep bees in/on their property as long as they dont cause a nuisance. We as beekeepers know bees can be downright nasty at times. Other people also have the right to enjoy their property not be fear full of getting stung.

 

[Rosti]

I agree with Veg, asking him/her to prove it was one of your would be inflamatory, you'd win this time but escalation is likely (next time); but equally, do not accept liability. Thats a tight rope act I know, but should buy you time for plan B, out apiary access. You can then utilise both locations.
I run primarily at an out apiary but keep the odd nuc / newly hived swarm etc at home for observation and general enjoyment. That said if there is a hint of agression then they are off to the remand home!

Good luck with it. Not a reason to quit, simply a reason to introduce balance and options, but then I would argue that we should all enter the hobby with such an option available. R

 

[kermit]

Give her a jar of honey at the end of the season and next year she'll be looking forward to your bees flying around... Works for us.

Dave

 

[Winker]

You may think that asking for proof is inflamatory, but once the Neighbour knows you're keeping bees, you get the blame for ANY flying stinging insect that may sting them from within a mile around your house.

Ask them to describe what it looked like, odds are it looked nothing like your bees.

I know!

My Neighbour does not want me to have bees next door to him, he is just twitching for a reason to get on my case. ANYTHING that flys and stings is my fault now.


Proof please!

 

[greatbritishhoney]

And what do you do when he turns up with the dead offending bee?

 

[madasafish]

And what do you do when he turns up with the dead offending bee?

Ask for a DNA test?


I just bribe my neighbours..

 

[iamduvern]

BBKA membership includes Third Party liability insurance. However, there is an onus on the owner of bees to place his/her hives somewhere where people will not get stung, and you have already failed in that respect.

How has he failed?? No matter where hives are placed if bees are able to range then sooner or later people will get stung
I have mine at the bottom of my garden with an 8 foot fence on 3 sides so the bees are as a rule over my neighbours heads when passing through buts what to stop them dropping and stinging??
Where would you recommend that his hives are placed? on the moon perhaps!

 

[greatbritishhoney]

If my neighbours complained (unlikely as they are about quater of a mile away!) then I'd move my bees asap.
We may have a right to keep bees but I think it's a bit selfish to just say your neighbours should get used to being stung.

 

[Winker]

And what do you do when he turns up with the dead offending bee?

blame the guy next door...other side, he has Masonry Bees living in the front wall of his house. The look just like Honey bees.

 

[PaleoPerson]

Had a husband and wife stung four to five times each one afternoon and I could not understand it as the bees are the calmest you could ever want. I asked "do you still have the bodies?", they promptly dug out half a dozen dead wasps from the bin.

Problem solved.

 

[moby]

Thanks for all the suggestions, normally no one goes down the bottom of the garden approx 25 mtrs away from our houses and the hive faces her garden and have a 2.3 mtr on high hedge on 2 sides to push them up and 2.3 mtr high screening to stop them from head butting us..... But the bees spotted her through a gap at the bottom of the hedge while she was mowing the lawn, I know could have told her to prove that they were my bees but I am sure that would have escalated tensions.
I have apologised that she got stung I and told her how good bees will be for the area and given a jar of honey as peace offering. Her and her husband seem very understanding as it turns out he is some sort of ecologist and has asked what they could do to help prevent it from happening again...... pinch me I!!!! I must be dreaming... I am waiting for the custard pie in the face while my guard is down.
But as it stands everyone needs to enjoy their garden and grumpy bees are not part of that ideal one hive I have is headed by a buckfast which are as meek a lambs which I will keep the other needs requeening

 

[viridens]

Beekeeping and The Law – Swarms and Neighbours By David Frimston and David Smith
Obtainable from Judge David Smith, Bristol Crown Court, Guildhall, Broad Street, Bristol, BS1. Cheques for £12.50 (to include postage and packing) payable to International Bee Research Association.

Has anyone read this book?

Is it worth asking if the local library can source a copy?

 

[djg]

moby,

My urban neighbour built up a floor this year, adding a double French window onto a new terrace crammed with flowers. I had moved my bee-hives to accomodate the building work over the winter. Her husband sent me an e-mail as follows:

Since we moved back in we have noticed quite a few bees have come into our apartment. This is very concerning as ***** suffers from anaphylactic shock, and so has to be really careful about bee stings. Would it be possible for you to move the bee hives to the other side of your building, further away, in the hope that this will solve the problem?

For the information benefit of members of this site (and with no sense of claiming that this is the "right" or the "wrong" way to respond), this is the response which I sent:

I sympathise with *****’s concerns and would like to make the following observations to put her mind at rest.

• I have taken care to position my hives as far away as possible from human habitation (four floors above street level). When the hives returned from their Winter quarters last month, I conscientiously repositioned a hive which had originally been on my rear Terrace, directly overlooking your new Terrace area, to an area towards the farthest end of the north parapet, away from your Terrace.

• (My Wife) is also extremely sensitive to bee stings. She has yet to be stung in our 4 years at (Our Address). 

• There have been no problems reported by residential or commercial neighbours, side, front, or back in the 3 years which the bees have been there. Naked sunbathers, florists, ice-cream sellers and hot-tub enthusiasts alike have yet to report any inconvenience!


On the practical front:

• One positive side-effect of having the hives is the presence of a number of wasp traps which I set every year. These diminish the prevalence of an aggressive and multi-stinging insect which forages aggressively for human food and drink.

• There are plenty of honeybees (from both managed and from feral colonies) in the area which have nothing to do with my hives. Indeed, there is only one single species of honeybee and 260 species of non-honey bee which are native to the UK ! Small consolation, but with Spring at hand, you will be welcoming a lot more uninvited winged wildlife (of all varieties!) through your new French windows and terrace area than before.

• Getting a bit technical here, but if a beehive is moved more than 3 feet (and less than 3 miles), the bees return to the original site of the hive. Unless we want a quantity of disorientated and homeless bees roaming around the North parapet, moving the hives to the other side of my roof (even if there were space available) is not an option.

• Even if it were possible, moving my bees 15 feet across the roof would make no difference to their overall “traffic”. Bees will simply fly the most direct route to and from a food source up to 3 miles away, in whatever direction that food source is located. But for your reassurance, none of my hive entrances is positioned in the direction of your Terrace.

• Honeybees outside the hive have only one mission: to go from, and return to the hive with food. They gather pollen and nectar from plants, but cannot consume human foodstuffs. Honeybees sting only to defend their hive or themselves, so unless you approach a hive or attack a bee, they are no threat to human beings.

• I hope that it will lessen your concerns that the beehives and the bees were there before your extension was built and caused no nuisance to you or ***** for two years. Same bees, same location and hopefully, the same outcome.

In recognition of your concerns and to reassure you of my best intentions, I would like to offer to provide ***** with an EpiPen (http://www.epipen.com), as a precaution against any allergic emergencies which may arise, from whatever source.

Whether this allayed their concerns or not is hard to say. There was no response to my e-mail sent 2 months ago, there has been no solicitor's letter and we politely exchange greetings on our rooves and on the street.

Hope this helps.

 

[viridens]

djg

Wonderful stuff, and a useful template for other bee herders. It must have taken you much time and careful thought to compose.

Fortunately, I now live in very well detached rural house, and no longer suffer from stinging neighbours myself.

 

[buzz bee]

But the bees spotted her through a gap at the bottom of the hedge while she was mowing the lawn

In my limited experience, lawn mowing seems to really aggravate even the mildest bees. I won't mow without my suit on now because as soon as I get within about 10 metres of the hive they all start to hang about on the hive front. Have tried different times of day etc, but they just do not like the vibes and the noise. If your neighbour is on the other side of the hedge she wouldn't see them getting ready for action.

Learned the hard way when I received a sting on the top of the head whilst driving the ride-on mower! Not only did I get a swollen face but had swollen glands in my neck for 10 days.

Perhaps you could offer to mow her lawn in the adjacent part to your hive?