Bees excrement can create a waxy substance which is hard to clean off outdoor furniture. (File photo)
Photo: Supplied/Bioeconomy Science Institute
Tauranga City Council wants to make it easier to deal with complaints about bee poo.
It investigated 38 complaints about urban hives in the past two years – 34 of them about excrement.
The poo could create a waxy substance that was hard to get off outdoor furniture and decks.
The council’s animal service manager Oscar Glossop, told a local meeting, complaints could be difficult to investigate and act on.
“It’s very hard to prove the bees are a nuisance and are coming from a specific place once they get to a certain number. Most of these complaints come in around spring time when bees generally are at a high activity rate.”
The current rules meant staff had to decide whether to completely remove hives or leave them.
That could lead to lengthy appeals.
The proposed changes would allow for a more proportionate response, including education, that could avoid staff being pulled into drawn out disputes between neighbours.
“It would take away an expectation that we would be dealing with bee poo for 163 hours in the last two calendar years of staff time, and instead make it when it was an actual issue.” Glossop said.
A council paper on the problem said urban beekeeping had advantages, supporting food security and biodiversity.
The current rules allowed backyard hives as long as the bees are not a nuisance or causing safety problems.
The public would have the ability to have a say on the proposed changes in June.
They were part of wider changes to the Keeping of Animals Bylaw.
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