DuPage County passes beekeeping ordinance on narrow vote
A month-long debate about beekeeping in DuPage County recently came to an end as commissioners sitting on the county board narrowly passed an ordinance text amendment on the dos and don’ts of the practice.
At its most recent regular meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 27, the board voted 10-8 in support of the amendment, which gives property owners the ability to keep honeybees on lots of less than an acre, after going through a series of permit requirements.
Nearly a dozen county residents — many avid beekeepers and environmental advocates — spoke to the board about the changes. Most were supportive.
New requirements for beekeeping
While the county is making more accommodations for beekeeping — particularly in unincorporated areas where municipal ordinances are not in place — people interested in the practice will have to go through a series of requirements to perform it lawfully.
The county’s Building and Zoning Department, for instance, is requiring the issuance of a permit before beekeeping can be performed. Additionally, applicants will have to go through training and obtain certification through the Illinois Cooperative Extension’s 4-H program.
The beekeeping debate began as county officials have been performing a series of broader reviews about land use matters in unincorporated areas of the county.
The board’s Development Committee, under the leadership of District 1 commissioner Sam Tornatore, has been reviewing the text amendment changes. More recently, the changes also went before the Environmental Committee as well.
“I’ve wanted to thank all of those who educated me on bees and beekeeping over the last month or so,” said Tornatore, who was among the supporters of moving forward with the changes.
In defense of the rusty patched bumblebee
The rusty patched bumblebee, which is native to the Midwest and eastern portions of the U.S. and southern portion of Canada, has reportedly been in decline in DuPage County. Honeybees, which hobbyists typically keep for their sweet concoction as a food source, are believed to have originated from Asia.
District 3 commissioner Lucy Chang Evans, who was among those casting a “no” vote for the ordinance change, said she was concerned about the local bee habitat, based on information shared during the recent debates.
“No one’s here to demonize honeybees or beekeepers, but we do have an endangered species called the rusty patched bumblebee, and we have it here in DuPage County, and we want to protect it,” Evans said.
Connie Schmidt, a member of the local chapter of the environmental organization Sierra Club, implored the board to vote against the ordinance change at the recent board meeting.
“Introducing additional competition, and the threat of disease and parasites from additional honeybee colonies, while possibly endangering our native bees, does not seem to be an environmental vote,” Schmidt said. “Our native bees are important for pollinating the food that we eat.”
Others blame insecticides, lack of habitat
Beekeepers have countered that there are other reasons behind the rusty patched bumblebee’s decline in DuPage County, including chemical treatments and a lack of adequate habitats to support their vitality.
Charles Ingram, a 70-year DuPage County resident and a member of the Cook-DuPage Beekeepers Association, said he has been beekeeping most of his life. Insecticides, he said, have made it “a constant fight” to keep the honeybee population alive as well.
“The honeybee population in our county is going down, not up,” Ingram said. “I support having more honeybees.”
Tornatore said he was “ambivalent” to the beekeeping issue when it wound up in his committee. But after hearing different comments and studying the issue deeper, he gave an impassioned defense of moving forward with the amendment.
Speaking to the relationship between honeybees and the rusty patched bumblebee, Tornatore said, “They apparently have been able to get along forever. Why it’s suddenly become an issue in unincorporated DuPage County in 2024 is beyond my comprehension.”
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