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Tag Archives | urban beekeepers

BEEKEEPING LEGALIZED IN TORRANCE!

email via HoneyLover Jim Montgomery


The city council approved the ordinance last night, 6-1!!!!  All were in favor except for Councilmember Heidi Ashcraft.    (The link for the ordinance is here).  Beekeeping on single family residences is no longer illegal in Torrance. That is the good news, the bad news is the process is more complicated and costly than I would have liked.  I would have liked to see beekeeping allowed by right as is the case in Redondo Beach, but in Torrance we will have to submit a Special Animal Permit along with an $80 application fee.
In addition, when you apply your surrounding neighbors will be notified of your application and will have up to 10 calendar days to object.  If this occurs, your application will be suspended and you can appeal the objection to the Torrance Environmental Quality and Energy Conservation commission along with, I believe, a $70 appeal fee.
If there is no objection, or there is an objection and you win the appeal and the SAP is approved there is still one more potential hurdle. Anyone, anywhere in the city of Torrance can appeal the decision.  They would be on the hook for this $70 appeal fee, not you since the SAP has been approved at this point.   If there was no objection by your neighbors, the appeal goes to the TEQECC as above.  If it had been objected to and you won your appeal at the TEQECC, the appeal would then go to the city council to be heard.  The decision of the council will be final with no further ability to appeal either by you or anyone else.
A few of the council members spoke in favor of allowing beekeeping by right (Councilmembers Goodrich and Griffiths) but there was sufficient concern raised by others that in order to secure enough votes to pass the ordinance, the compromise to allow this objection/appeal process was put in place.  I spoke with the staffer who largely wrote the ordinance to voice my concern about this process that it is likely that at least one of your neighbors is going to object out of fear, spite or just because it is easier to say no than yes.  He acknowledged that but said if you follow the regulations of the ordinance and the objection is not based upon something substantial like a medically certified bee sting allergy, the thought is that the TEQECC or council would take that into account when hearing the appeal and likely approve the application.
The TEQECC voted 6-1 to pass the ordinance to council and the council voted 6-1 to approve the ordinance so I suspect that an application will be approved by them unless an objector has a significant objection and not just they don’t want a neighbor to have bees.
Take the time to read the ordinance and let me know if you have any questions.   The Special Animal Permit is not in place yet so I do not yet think you can apply, I will update folks when I hear more about the process to apply.
Thanks again to everyone who contributed to getting an ordinance passed to legalize beekeeping in Torrance!
Jim
Read full story · Posted in News, Yay Bees

RESULTS from HoneyLove 3rd Annual Honey Tasting!

1st Place: Raw Urban Honey – Culver City, CA
2nd Place: Tupelo Raw Honey – Savannah, GA
3rd Place: Organic Blue Borage Honey – New Zealand
4th Place: Zick’s Orange Blossom Raw Honey

HoneyTasting2013

View more photos below!
Google+ http://goo.gl/riAJXl
Meetup http://www.meetup.com/HoneyLove/photos/17896902/

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Biodynamic Apiculture and Alternative Hives Workshop

Thanks to everyone who came out for our Biodynamic Apiculture and Alternative Hives Workshop!
Biodynamic2

Click here to sign up for our monthly newsletter and see the full write up from our workshop!

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WATCH: How to capture a swarm of honey bees

Subscribe to HoneyLove’s YouTube Channel here —> http://full.sc/MRAY21

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WATCH: Swarm + Abri van Straten


Abri van Straten (Lead singer, song writer and guitarist of The Lemmings)

True Blood Beekeepers

Last year, after an episode on HBO’s series True Blood where Bill (Stephen Moyer) said to Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten) “Oh good! The world needs more beekeepers!” the actors generously donated a few sweet items to our silent auction for our annual HoneyLove Yellow Tie Event!
Click here to read more about it on “The Vault”

True Blood Silent Auction

CLICK HERE to get tickets to this year’s YELLOW TIE EVENT (June 8th, 2013)!!
yellowtie

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Backwards Beekeepers: Meggie’s successful trap-out

Backwards Beekeepers: Meggie’s successful trap-out

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Backwards Beekeepers: Kirk mentors Emma

Backwards Beekeepers: Kirk mentors Emma

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Backwards Beekeepers: tough trap-out / new beekeeper

Backwards Beekeepers: tough trap-out / new beekeeper

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New Yahoo group for Bee Rescue Hotline calls!

New Yahoo group for Bee Rescue Hotline calls!

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