Years-long battle for a beehive finally comes to an end

The Evanston Health Committee met Monday evening to discuss a dispute between two neighbors. One keeps bees in her yard. The other claims the bees are a danger to her and her visitors.

The disagreement has been going on since last year when the committee granted Mary Nisi a beekeeping license and allowed her to keep a hive in her garden.

Her neighbor, Nina Paleologos, objects to the permit on the grounds that the beehive poses a danger to her and that several people were stung in her garden last year.

Department of Health and Human Services Director Ike Ogbo wrote in a memo to the committee that last October the city hired entomologist Brittany Buckles to look into the matter, who eventually recommended that Nisi move the hive to the other side of the yard, closer to another corner of the fenced yard, “as a social compromise.”

Nisi refused to move her hive because the recommendation was merely an official request.

Nisi and another neighbor, Jessica Hopper, both said Monday that there was once a hornet's nest in Paleologos and said the stings may have come from that rather than Nisi's bees.

Ogbo said Buckles was unable to make an official inquiry without knowing exactly which insect had stung the visitors to Paleologos.

On Monday, Ogbo said Buckles had written in an email that she had to “reach a social compromise and therefore [she] recommended moving the hives, but from the insects' point of view it would not have made any difference anyway.”

Buckles also apparently wrote that she “felt comfortable [Nisi] in case of doubt, for the accused,” and said the recommendation to move the hive would not have changed much.

“The entomologist also explained that bees fly an average of three kilometers,” Ogbo wrote in his memo. “So from an insect perspective, the location will not change significantly.”

Addressing the committee, Nisi said, “I'm not entirely sure why we're back here,” adding that she “really needs to get this over with.”

Paleologos told the committee that no one had been stung by insects this year, but that bees had still been in their garden, especially near their pool.

“Even though no one was stung… It’s really stressful,” Paleologos said, calling on the committee to revoke Nisi’s license.

The committee rejected this and instead unanimously affirmed the approval of all members present for Nisi's license.

Ald. Juan Geracaris (9th) said: “I have not heard anything today that would change my yes vote.”

“It’s clear from this email that nothing changes if you relocate the bees,” said Ald. Devon Reid (8th).

Ald. Bobby Burns (5th) said he hopes the next time an expert is brought in to make a recommendation, it won't be a “social compromise.”

According to city ordinance, the Human Services Committee has the final say on beekeeping licenses.

Related