Agenda Packets - 2015/07/06 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Policy Rationale for Apiary Registration Revocation Draft of 1-27-15 Objective: At the January 20, 2015 Edina City Council meeting, Council requested that a policy statement be developed to guide the City Manager or their designee in revoking a valid apiary registration. The attached policy was developed directly from page 5 of the Energy and Environment Commission’s report from the Local Food Working Group dated Nov. 22, 2014. Issue: The only issue is that of whether a neighbor within 200 feet of an apiary lot line can compel an apiary registration revocation by showing a documented past anaphylaxis due to a bee sting, without documenting what kind of bee, or whether the City Council will adopt a higher standard, as recommended by the Energy and Environment Commission, showing a documented past anaphylaxis specifically due to a honeybee (Apis mellifera) sting. Both alternatives are presented in the proposed policy for Council to consider. Factual Background Honeybee Biology - The Hymenoptera are one of the largest orders of insects. Stinging insects of the order Hymenoptera are the main cause of insect-related anaphylaxis. There are 3 families of Hymenoptera with clinical importance: Apis species - Bees (honeybees, bumblebees), Vespids (yellow jackets, hornets, wasps), Stinging ants (genus Solenopsis and others). There are nearly 20,000 known species of bees (Hymenoptera, suborder Apocrita, clade Anthophila) with over 400 species in Minnesota. The venom of each species of Hymenoptera is specific to that species. If a person is allergic to other stinging insects, they will not likely also be allergic to honeybee stings. An article by David B.K. Golden, M.D on Insect Sting Anaphylaxis found at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1961691/, states that “Honeybee venom is immunochemically distinct from the other Hymenoptera.” But “Vespid (hornet) venoms have a high degree of cross reactivity with each other...” This means that an allergy test can distinguish whether the instinct sting was specifically from a honeybee (Apis mellifera). Honeybees (Apis mellifera) are hybridized to be gentle and rarely sting, whereas wasps and hornets are aggressive insects and are quick to sting. If a person has been stung, it is more likely by that of a wasp or a hornet then by a honeybee. A worker honeybee can sting but once and then dies, so they are unlikely to sting unless physically assaulted. A male honeybee (drone) cannot sting. If stung by a worker honeybee, the barbed stinger will be left in the skin. If stung by a wasp, hornet or bumble bee, the stinger is not left in the skin, the insect does not die and consequently, these insects can sting multiple times. As a result, a honeybee sting can be visually differentiated from a wasp, hornet or bumble bee sting in those situations when the honeybee stinger remains in the skin and is not brushed off by clothing, for example. Probability of a Honeybee Sting - The probability of being stung by a honeybee is very low, given their gentleness. Gary Reuter, scientist with the University of Minnesota Bee Lab, testified at the Edina City Council’s first reading of the Honeybee amendments on 1-20-15 that although his wife is specifically allergic to honeybee stings, he does have a home apiary and the honeybees have never stung his wife. 1