Title
Municipal Community Beekeeping Apiary Pilot - Stellwagen Farm
History
Staff is seeking Committee of the Whole input to initiate a one-year municipal community beekeeping apiary pilot program at Stellwagen Farm, 17701 108th Ave. The proposed program would establish a controlled, designated location where qualified participants may maintain honeybee hives under Village-issued permits and defined safety, insurance, maintenance, and nuisance-control requirements.
Village regulations currently do not provide a clear framework for managed beekeeping. A future ordinance will be established with definitions and regulations for apiaries, beekeepers, colonies, hives, and related equipment; prohibit beekeeping elsewhere in the Village; and authorize the pilot as a regulated accessory use at Stellwagen Farm.
A community apiary at Stellwagen Farm can support pollinator habitat, prairie and garden plantings, environmental education, agricultural heritage interpretation, and community engagement while providing residents who cannot maintain hives at home with a designated and regulated location. Centralizing the activity at a Village-controlled site also allows the Village to establish setbacks, fencing and screening, training, insurance, inspection, swarm response, and removal procedures.
Proposed Pilot Program
· Begin with four to eight active hives in total, with no permit holder maintaining more than two hives unless approved by the Village.
· Locate the pilot within a designated apiary area at Stellwagen Farm.
· Require annual Village permits and annual Illinois Department of Agriculture hive registration.
· Require evidence of beekeeping education, a signed application and hold harmless/indemnity agreement, and proof of required insurance.
· Require participants to provide and maintain their hives, bees, equipment, water source, inspection records, sanitation, and swarm-response capability.
· Reserve Village authority to inspect, require corrective action, sus...
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