To Bee Or Not To Bee?

Few things have stirred up a debate quite like the issue of the birds and the bees.

The Corte Madera Town Council is expected to approve an ammendment during Tuesday's meeting that would allow folks to keep chickens and beehives in their backyards.

Following is a sample of comments from readers on the issue. Also, check out some videos that were sent in.

• The ordinance was created and folks just kept on keeping bees and chickens because most didn't even know that it had become illegal. In THIRTY years there has been only one complaint. That's quite a track record.
— Glenda Corning

• Majority vote: Colony Collapse Disorder is caused and spread by infectious viral disease and parasites. How many of Corte Madera's fly or mite-infested European honey bee colonies eventually mysteriously disappeared this winter? Will our native pollinators perish as well? After the imported European honey bees die-off are we going to open our arms to the import of Russian honey bees? Then African stingless honey bees? Then Asian honey bees? Then ergonomically-designed hand-held pollination brushes? Preserve our native pollinators!
— Popo

• Wild bees are important pollinators and numerous studies dealing with pollination of wild plants and crops underline their vital role in ecosystems functioning. While honey bees can be easily transported to various location when needed, wild bees' presence is dependent on the availability of high quality semi-natural habitats. Some crops, such as apples and cherries, and many wild flowers are more effectively pollinated by wild bees and other insects rather than managed honey bees.
http://www.sciencecodex.com/heavy_metal_pollution_causes_severe_declines_in_wild_bees-86944
— Popo

• Chickens Are Noisy! Bees cannot be contained! Residents that want chickens or honey bees in this densely populated town are not being very neighborly.
— Popo

• Editorial: Flirting with pandemic. (01/02/2012) CALGARY HERALD "Two separate teams, led by Yoshihiro Kawaoka at the University of WisconsinMadison and Ron Fouchier at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands, have tinkered with H5N1, otherwise known as bird flu. The resulting strains are dramatically more dangerous. According to the World Health Organization, bird flu has killed more than 330 people since 2003. That is a staggering 60 per cent of the 570-odd cases recorded worldwide in that period. (The actual fatality rate may be lower since non-fatal cases of bird flu are more likely to escape detection than fatal ones.) But if the virus ever evolved to hop nimbly from person to person, it too could wreak a pandemic. That evolution has now occurred, helped by the researchers in Madison and Rotterdam."  http://www.calgaryherald.com/opinion/editorials/Editorial+Flirting+with+pandemic/5933869/story.html#ixzz1j80j8Jjo 
— Popo

• La Salle bans live chickens, poultry in city. (01/10/2012) ILLINOIS"The La Salle City Council dealt with a poultry problem Monday night, banning city residents from keeping chickens and other livestock. Second ward alderman Joe Edgcomb has been receiving complaints regarding an unspecified resident in his ward who he said has been keeping chickens and roosters for personal use. The birds apparently have been leaving the resident’s yard and disrupting neighbors. Since there previously wasn’t an ordinance that addressed poultry as a nuisance, city attorney Jim McPhedran said it would be appropriate to craft the new ordinance to allow the resident or others in a similar situation a reasonable amount of time to address the issue. 'I find it surprising that we need to be reasonable to someone who is leading an unreasonable lifestyle,' alderman John Duncan said. 'It would probably be a non-issue if it was being done in a responsible manner to the rest of the neighborhood,' Grove said. As the concept of eating locally raised or grown foods has grown in popularity in recent years, so has interest in raising backyard chickens for eggs or meat in communities around the country."  http://www.newstrib.com/articles/news/local/default.asp?article=31732&aname=La+Salle+bans+live+chickens%2C+poultry+in+city
— Popo