Bees Subject Of Complaints In Darien Neighborhood

DARIEN, IL — Residents in a Darien neighborhood are telling their alderman they cannot enjoy their backyards. It's just too uncomfortable. The problem — bees. And not just any bees, but those raised by a neighbor, Ward 2 Alderman Lester Vaughan told the City Council this week.

"They can't even sit in their backyard without bees coming into their yard," said Vaughan, whose ward is on the city's north side.

The alderman said he was told the city could do nothing about the issue, unless it enacts an ordinance regulating the raising of bees.

Dan Gombac, the city's municipal services director, confirmed that was correct. He said his department would review the issue and look at the possibility of an ordinance. It is doing the same with chickens, a source of complaints in another part of town. Officials did not identify the beekeeper's street.

The situation in Vaughan's ward is the second time that bees have been a topic in council meetings in recent months.

In June, Ward 5 Alderwoman Mary Sullivan told the council that she had received complaints about a honeybee farm just outside city limits near her southwest Darien ward. Residents have expressed concern over the noise, smell and traffic related to the farm, but apparently not buzzing bees.