Hanover Park considering opening honeybee apiary

There’s a buzz in the air in Hanover Park about thousands of prospective new residents.

Officials are backing a proposal to create a community apiary that would house honeybee hives on village property, a green initiative supporters say would lead to educational opportunities, the chance to help rebuild a vital pollinating population that’s been decimated in recent years and, of course, gallons of honey.

“We’d be on the cutting edge on an environmental issue not a lot of communities nationwide are doing,” Public Works Director Howard Killian said.

The apiary, which could be approved at the May 5 board of trustees meeting, would be located at the former sewage treatment plant property at Bayside Drive and Army Trail Road.

Hanover Park currently bans beekeeping or the harboring or maintaining of bees and hives, an ordinance that’s being rewritten.

Killian envisions the apiary will house about 20 hives in the first year and expand from there if the operation works. Each hive contains up to 5,000 bees in the winter and up to 60,000 bees in the summer.

Beekeepers will have to provide their own bees, hives and equipment and also be registered with the Illinois Department of Agriculture, which inspects hives.

Helping quell any concerns trustees had was Cook-DuPage Beekeepers Association President Gary Gates, whose group is working with Hanover Park on the apiary and plans to maintain a couple hives there for its 165 members.

Gates assured the board that honeybees — unlike wasps and hornets — are bred to be docile and typically stay within 10 feet of their hives when they’re not out pollinating and collecting nectar from flowers. The proposed apiary is located 166 feet away from the closest residence and 256 feet from the nearest soccer field.

Killian also pointed out a locked fence surrounds the site and that beekeepers will have to demonstrate acceptable beekeeping skills, obtain private insurance and sign a document that releases the village from any liability.

Gates said that while private apiaries are not uncommon, he believes Hanover Park’s community apiary would be the first in the state and among just a few in the nation.

He said there’s a growing interest in honeybees and beekeeping due to increasing awareness about colony collapse disorder, a phenomenon that destroys entire hives without warning.

“It’s a fascinating hobby more and more people are getting drawn into,” Gates said.