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For many among the general public, ignorance of honey bees is complete. Having been stung by wasps and yellow jackets, they assume having any kind of bee nearby spells trouble. Not true. It’s up to you to take steps to educate them and alleviate their fears.

Some things you can do to put them at ease are

 Restrict your bee yard to two hives or fewer. Having a couple of hives is far less intimidating to the uneducated than if you had a whole phalanx of hives.

 Locate your hive in such a way that it doesn’t point at your neighbor’s driveway, your house entrance, or some other pedestrian traffic-way. Bees fly up, up, and away as they leave the hive. When they’re 15 feet from the hive, they’re way above head level.

 Don’t flaunt your hives. Put them in an area where they’ll be inconspicuous.

  In a densely populated urban setting, sometimes, keeping your hobby on the down-low, or at least not telling people the exact location of your hive, could spare you from an opportunistic complainer!

 Paint or stain your hives to blend into the environment. Painting them flame orange is only tempting fate.

 Provide a nearby source of water for your bees. That keeps them from collecting water from your neighbor’s pool or birdbath (see the “Providing for your thirsty bees” section later in this chapter). Air-conditioning drips are a strong temptation for city bees. Also, drips from water towers are ever present, and enticing for thirsty bees — but bee-ware! This water might be laced with chemicals that pose threats to bees. So be sure to provide your colonies with a nearby source of clean water to help them avoid becoming a nuisance ! Bait it with sugar for a couple of weeks to lure the bees to your water source.

 Invite folks to stop by and watch you inspect your hive. They’ll see firsthand how gentle bees are, and your own enthusiasm will be contagious. You usually won’t have to ask; they will seek you out. Keep an extra veil or two on hand for your visiting friends. You certainly don’t want a sting on their nose to be what they remember about your bees.

 Let your neighbors know that bees fly several miles from home (that’s equal to thousands of acres). So mostly they’ll be visiting a huge area that isn’t anywhere near your neighbor’s property.

 Give gifts of honey to all your immediate neighbors (see Figure 3-1 for an example). This gesture goes a long way in the public relations department.

In an urban environment, don’t forget your building superintendent and/or the president of your co-op board.

Courtesy of Howland Blackiston

FIGURE 3-1: This gift basket of honey bee products will be given to each of my immediate neighbors. That’s sure to help sweeten them up.