Beekeeper moves bees from his childhood home in Lake Villa after neighbor complaint

Saturday was moving day for Willie Pilipauskas and the small apiary of 15 bee boxes he kept in the backyard of his parent's Lake Villa home.

The hives were among the first Pilipauskas tended to since he set up his first bee colony when he was 12 years old. Today, he manages 600 to 700 bee colonies in the Lake and McHenry County areas.

The relocation has been in the works since Lake Villa officials said in mid-July they'd received a complaint from a neighbor who said the bee population was so large that a portion of the neighbor's backyard was unusable. Lawyers for Pilipauskas and the village met in September and agreed Pilipauskas would move the bees and avoid a fine. Residential beekeeping is not permitted in the village.

"I have kids now and I was hoping to bring them into it by visiting the bees at grandma and grandpa's house," the 32-year-old said Pilipauskas, who lives with his family in McHenry County.

The bees were upset by the move as well.

Pilipauskas said once he and his brother Peter delivered the colonies to their new home - on the property of business near the Volo Bog State Natural Area - the bees were so riled up, his brother had to sprint back to his Jeep to avoid their getting stung.

In addition to selling honey and helping people remove bees from places they aren't wanted, Pilipauskas makes money by delivering bees to businesses that want them for the environmental benefit bees bring or the potential tax breaks.

Lake Villa Village Manager Karl Warwick said though the settlement was reached months ago, the bees were moved now because Pilipauskas said it was better to move them in the spring.

"We wanted him to do what is convenient for the bees and don't want to let them suffer," Warwick said.

Pilipauskas said he and his family never heard about any complaints from neighbors about the bees, and several neighbors called the village to express their support for the bees remaining on the property.

"Everything is moving toward a friendlier ecological model, so it seems counterproductive to say you can't have bees because they're bugs," Pilipauskas said. "It seems really backward for where people want things to go."

Warwick said there haven't been serious talks among village officials about whether to allow beekeeping on residential property, but kept open that possibility.

"To the level to which the bees were out there, probably not, but a normal homegrown bee operation is something that might be looked at (allowing) in the future," Warwick said.