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, suspend or revoke permits, re-queen colonies, and relocate or remove unsafe, aggressive, diseased, abandoned, or noncompliant hives.
The preferred site should have low pedestrian activity, natural screening, staff access, a reliable water source, and meaningful separation from homes, schools, trails, shelters, and active recreations as shown below. Final hive placement will be field verified using the following preliminary separation criteria:
Playgrounds: 300’
Residential Property Lines: 50’
Residential Homes: 150’
Athletic Fields: 200’
Multi-use Trails: 100’
Active Recreation/Program Areas: 200’
Picnic Shelters:200’
Schools: 300’
Parking Lots: 100’
Pools: 300’
Honeybees thrive in full morning sun with protection from harsh prairie winds. Final hive placement at Stellwagen Farm should favor a south/southeast orientation, protection from prevailing winter winds, and continuous access to a dedicated water source to reduce migration to public water sources or neighboring properties.
Locations considered (see attached) included:
Schumack Farm, 139th St. & 110 Ave.: The site is approximately 684 feet from residential homes and more than 1,000 feet from the playground and backs up to McGinnis Slough. Schumack Farm offers excellent separation from surrounding development but would require significant tree clearing, construction of parking and maintenance access, and installation of trails and supporting infrastructure. The site has no electricity for lights or cameras.
Arbor Lake, 15400 Wolf Rd.: The proposed location is approximately 461 feet from residential homes and approximately 85-176 feet from multi-use trails depending upon the final placement of the apiary. While the site offers strong ecological value, it would likely require tree clearing, improved maintenance access, evaluation of trail separation, and development of parking or access improvements. The site has no electricity for lights or cameras.
Dr. Marsh, 155th St. & 113th Ave.: The site is approximately 240-466 feet from residential homes and includes existing parking, trails, and a pavilion. An apiary could be accommodated with selective clearing of trees and brush, installation of an access path, and evaluation of appropriate separation from the pavilion and trail system. The site has no electricity for lights or cameras.
Stellwagen Farm, 17701 108th Ave.: As one of the Village's historic farm properties, Stellwagen Farm provides a unique opportunity to integrate beekeeping with agricultural heritage and environmental education. The site has the potential to support pollinator habitat while complementing existing educational programming, native plantings, and historic interpretation. Stellwagen Farm has a small parking lot, walkable grounds, water and electricity. A camera would potentially be added to observe the apiary.
Stellwagen Farm is recommended as the pilot location because its historic agricultural setting creates a natural connection between beekeeping, pollinator habitat, environmental education, native plantings, and interpretation of the Village’s farming heritage. A community apiary can become a complementary educational feature of the property rather than a stand-alone use. Prior to installation, staff will field-verify setbacks from adjacent uses, identify the most appropriate hive area, confirm maintenance and emergency access, establish a reliable water source, evaluate parking and visitor circulation, determine the fencing, screening, signage, and other site improvements necessary for safe operation.
Site improvements at Stellwagen Farm would include, as needed, a six- to eight-foot perimeter fence with a locked gate and/or dense native landscape screening, upward-directing flyway barriers, hive entrances oriented away from public areas, a dedicated water source, and educational signage that connects the apiary to the Farm’s agricultural and environmental programming.
Staff recommend a one-year pilot program at Stellwagen Farm capped at eight total hives, with individual permit holders limited to one or two hives. This scale will allow the Village to evaluate participation, public response, site operations, staff oversight, swarm management, educational opportunities, and compatibility with other Stellwagen Farm uses before considering expansion.
Following a successful first-year review, the Village could consider expanding the program to a maximum of 12 total hives, subject to the final ordinance, available space, site performance, and continued compliance with all operational and safety standards.
Risk-management and operational controls would include:
• Queens must come from stock selected for gentleness and low swarming tendencies; aggressive colonies must be re-queened or removed.
• Requiring all queens to be marked with the standard international color code for the hatch year. Marking confirms queen age, verifies gentleness of imported stock, and helps track hive swarming activity.
• Participants must use accepted best management practices, maintain inspection records, and respond to swarms originating from their colonies within 24 hours of notice.
• Hives must comply with the Illinois Bees and Apiaries Act and other applicable state requirements.
• The Village may remove abandoned or unmanaged hives and recover associated costs from the permit holder.
• Permits may be suspended or revoked for unsafe conditions, lapse of insurance, repeated violations, or conduct detrimental to the community apiary.
To offset administrative oversight and site management, staff propose the following annual participant fees:
Resident: $150 per beekeeper, annually, for up to two hives.
Non-resident: $225 per beekeeper, annually, for up to two hives.
The Community Beekeeping Apiary Pilot program was presented to the Heritage Sites Advisory Board on October 12, 2026. The Advisory Board posed a few questions related to site set-up, community education, and cost to associated with beekeeping. After discussion, the Heritages Sites Advisory Board unanimously voted to recommend to the Committee of the Whole a one-year pilot program at Stellwagen Farm
Staff recommend moving forward with Stellwagen Farm as the designated pilot location. The next phase would focus on site-specific field verification, neighborhood and public outreach, public education, legal and insurance review, final apiary layout, site improvements and costs, and completion of the ordinance and operating rules prior to implementation.
Financial Impact
Capital and operating costs will be based on the final Stellwagen Farm apiary layout and may include fencing and gate hardware, native landscape screening, signage, a dedicated water source or receptacles, minor access improvements, security measures, and ongoing staff administration. Staff will return to the Village Board with a site-specific implementation costs.
Recommended Action/Motion
I move to authorize staff to proceed with the next phase of a Community Beekeeping Apiary as fully presented, and to return to the Village Board with findings and final program details.
(Full Motion - not necessary to be read)
I move to authorize staff to proceed with detailed site planning, neighborhood and public outreach, ordinance refinement, and operational program development for a one-year pilot Community Beekeeping Apiary at Stellwagen Farm (17701 108th Ave.), incorporating the preliminary siting criteria, participant requirements, risk-management provisions, and proposed annual fee structure of $150 for residents and $225 for non-residents, and to return to the Village Board with final implementation costs, program rules, and a text amendment for consideration.