Hanover Park abuzz over honeybee apiary

Honeybee enthusiasts want to be clear: The docile pollinators are little like their more ornery relatives, the hornet and wasp.

The stark differences in behavior, aptitude for stinging and honey-making ability convinced Hanover Park officials that permitting a community apiary on village land would not only be safe for residents, but a benefit.

“The more I learn about the honeybees, the more excited I get,” Mayor Rod Craig said. “I was expecting pushback from people but they come around as soon as they learn a little, too.”

Approved unanimously by the village board last week, the apiary, an idea of the village’s environmental committee, will be located at the former sewage treatment plant property at Bayside Drive and Army Trail Road.

It’s believed to be the first on public land in the state and among the first in the country.

Public Works Director Howard Killian envisions the site, which will be secured with a locked fence, will house about 20 honeybee hives to start. Each hive contains up to 5,000 bees in the winter and up to 60,000 bees in the summer.

But it’ll take more than just a fleeting interest to get access to or maintain a hive.

Though details are still being worked out, other safeguards will be put into place such as hive overseers having to demonstrate acceptable beekeeping skills, obtain private insurance and sign a document that releases the village from liability.

Before she gave her official backing, new Trustee Jenni Konstanzer, whose home is near the future apiary, had questions about whether nearby restaurant odors or windy weather would set off the bees. The site is located just 166 feet away from the closest residence and 256 feet from the soccer fields.

But representatives from the Cook-DuPage Beekeepers Association assured her honeybees don’t go looking for trouble and tend to stay near their hives.

Officials have pointed to the various advantages of the green initiative, from educational opportunities to the chance to help rebuild a vital pollinating population decimated in recent years by colony collapse disorder, a phenomenon that destroys entire hives without warning.

Craig also talked about the potential health benefits of consuming locally grown honey, which some advocates believe helps people with allergies, though scientific evidence doesn’t exist to back the theory.