Burnsville isn't ready to hop on the beekeeping bandwagon.
A resident on Melody Lane suggested this month that the city change its animal nuisance rules to allow residents to cultivate bees in their yards, a hobby that's become legal in Minneapolis, St. Paul and Bloomington in recent years.
Domestic bees are popular with gardeners, who appreciate their benefits to plants. Many back-yard beekeepers hope to offset a drop in the natural population of the important pollinators.
But city council members, at a work session June 12, worried that bees would make neighbors anxious, and they didn't want city staff spending time studying the issue and writing and enforcing a new ordinance.
"We are just not equipped at this time and staffed at this time to even address the issue," said Mayor Elizabeth Kautz.
Most cities that allow bees require beekeepers to get the consent of neighbors and keep hives a certain distance from property lines. Some require residents to take a class.
