Have you ever had a spat with a neighbor? Did their shed block your view? Was their teenage son’s band practicing in the garage too loud? Was the smell of their cooking wafting across the yard nasty? Chances are you may well have had a run-in with the family next door.
That brings us to this installment of our popular You Be the Judge series, where we present a food allergy-related scenario and ask you to weigh in and share your opinions with our readership.
This story comes from the reddit post entitled “AITA For wanting to keep my bees even though my new neighbor’s son is highly allergic to them?“ by redditor u/buzzilovebeesbuzz. Although it’s not directly related to food allergies, it is all about anaphylaxis.
We’ve often referred to the “AITA” subreddit (i.e., group) where this story is posted. AITA is short for “Am I the A-Hole,” and it provides a medium for people to question their own behavior and ask readers to vote.
Here’s his story:
I have been keeping bees as a hobby for six years now. I have 4 hives in my suburbian backyard along with a large garden.
My hives are all properly registered and are legal to keep in my town as of right now.
The problem is that my new neighbors have asked me to get rid of my bees. They purchased the house and moved in over the winter and hadn’t noticed my girls until this spring.
Apparently their son is highly allergic to bee stings. He has been hospitalized more than once and has to carry an epi pen.
They asked nicely but seemed a little upset when I said I don’t think I could do that. They didn’t push the issue with me further but I saw a rant on nextdoor that I am sure was written by them.
Some time after that some of the bee hating nextdoor people when to our town board and tried to get bee keeping outlawed in our town. Luckily it didn’t pass and they had mentioned in the minutes that current bee keepers would have to be grandfathered in if it did (Because of that I am even more wary of giving it up in case they do bring this legislation up again If I have active hives I can keep them)
My neighbors and I aren’t really on speaking terms now.
AITA For wanting to keep doing my hobby?
EDIT:
THE BEES ARE STAYING.
I just can’t take the financial blow on this one. I have spent thousands on my yard. It provides a nice side income and I just can’t do it.
I have all my legal ducks in a row, with my set up, carrying the proper insurance, and following all the state and local laws. I shouldn’t have much to worry about legal issues as long as I keep doing it the way I have been.
I will reach out to my neighbors with an olive branch and some suggestions to keep their kid safe.
Many people have asked how I would feel if something happened to the kid. And sure, I would feel bad about it. It would be tragic.
Also me bees have always been legally permitted and registered.
The post received over 22,000 upvotes, meaning readers found the issue compelling, but the moderator turned off commenting due to numerous death threats that were made in the thread.
So now we turn to you, our readers, who know a thing or two about the dangers of anaphylaxis and the need to keep your family safe. Is the beekeeper right that he has every reason to maintain the colony that brings him an income, or does the safety of his neighbor’s child trump his hobby?
Let us know in the comments section below.
Since he has already spent a small fortune on his hobby, he needs to cough up a little bit more and pay his neighbors to move. It will be worth it to avoid a loss if the ultimate tragedy occurs.
This is the financial angle, since he obviously does not care about whether the child lives or dies. He needs to think about what it will cost him if they sue him.
The beekeeper was already established. It is his property and as long as he follows the law, he should be allowed to continue with his bee keeping. I live on a farm. We own the property. We have machinery noise, animal noise, dust, harvest debris blowing from the fields. The farm has been there for over 100 years. Our neighbors should have realized they were moving in near a working farm. We are farmers working our ground and caring for animals. We are not present to disrupt neighborhood backyards. Guess who the first one is to request help with snow removal or towing out of drifts during the winter and asking us to use our tractors or snow blowers? I am also a school nurse and realize the severity of anaphylaxis. It is unfortunate that there is a bee keeper next door to the allergic child, but the child may still have bees present in his own yard and surrounding area. Does he go to parks and on outings? The family should all be trained and ready with the Epipen and 911 at all times. I would vote that the bee keeper be allowed to keep the bees. He is within his right legally. He is paying his taxes. He owns his land.
This reminds me of my “lovely” neighbor who feeds the local wild animals with a buffet (actual animal buffet bar built with roof and all;) of human food consisting of breads, peanuts in the shell, English muffins and even pancakes! Birds will pick food up and it gets dropped often and lands in our yard, pool, car windshields etc. We did get them fined from the DEC police bc wild animals should not be fed and no one should have a conga line of geese, coyotes, deer, wild cats etc. in their yard daily! We were angered but also worried about our child’s safety with severe peanut allergies. We always checked the yard, pool etc before being outdoors. We educated our child not to pick up food outside. We taught our child what peanuts in and out of a shell look like at a very young age. I think when it comes to the outdoors, there is not much one can control as far as allergens. Protect yourself or loved one as best you can, stay safe and aware with epinephrine always available. We can’t live in bubbles and we can’t choose our neighbors.
I think this is moral issue and the morally correct thing to do is to find a new home for the bees and take up a new hobby. If the bees were merely a nuisance to the new neighbors and not a possible death sentence for their son then my opinion would be different. This beekeeper needs to put the needs of a child over his own selfish desires. I think in the future this could become a huge legal problem for the beekeeper if the child is stung. If it were me I would remove the bees because I would never be able to live with myself is something horrible happened to that child and I were the cause. I also think it’s odd that the selling real estate agent didn’t disclose the bees next door. The parents might look into some legal action on that front to get out of their contract or seek damages from the previous owner so they can afford to move.
We keep bees and found out one of the family is allergic. Went for allergy shots and within 6 months had built up enough resistance to tolerate a sting without incident.
Greetings. My sister suffered a fatal attack of anaphylaxis after being stung by a honeybee. As a child and young adult she had been stung before without serious reaction but as an adult she became sensitized to bee venom. She was never diagnosed and did not have a prescription for epinephrine. And she was a beekeeper. Every bee sting is serious. I believe all beekeepers should obtain and EAI device. You never know when the worst might happen.
Nevertheless, I think the bees should stay. The family with the allergic child certainly has my understanding, support and empathy. But individuals at risk for anaphylaxis from bee venom are at risk almost every time they go anywhere outside. Just as we cannot create a food allergen free environment neither can we keep bees from going just about wherever they want to. You might get stung almost anywhere outdoors. If you are allergic to bees then I suggest you take precautions by staying alert and always keeping your EAI device with you.
If this sounds like I am of two minds here, that’s only because I am. Thank you for your time and attention. Best wishes.
This is nothing like the comparisons I’ve seen made of neighbors feeding allergenic foods to local wildlife. First, you should never feed human food local wildlife. Second, if you choose to have a feeder (like one for birds), you can easily have it and choose not to put top 9 allergens in it. Third, stopping feeding wildlife doesn’t represent a significant financial burden.
Now onto the current conundrum with the bees. As a highly allergic individual at risk for anaphylaxis who has a neighbor who chose to start keeping bees well after we moved in, I can relate to the stress these parents feel, even though I don’t know exactly what they’re going through. I don’t love that they keep bees, but I have learned to manage, especially given that bees don’t want to sting people.
Bees are naturally occurring insects that the child in this post will encounter on a very regular basis. While the neighbor removing the hives would reduced encounters, it won’t eliminate the problem. Also, bee keeping is an investment, and you cannot expect someone to suddenly give that up, especially when you come in after the fact.
The couple who has the allergic child should instead try to work with the bee keeping neighbor to find ways to discourage the bees from being in their yard. They could ask that all hives be relocated within the yard so that they are as far as possible from their property (but don’t expect this). They can ask politely that the neighbor change existing landscaping along the shared fence to minimize bee activity in that area (but again, don’t expect it). They can also create a landscape in their yard that does not attract bees for any reason (meaning no flowering plants, water, or bright colors). It is obviously a scary situation for this family, but there are limits as to what is reasonable to expect from others, particularly when you’re talking about their own property.
At the end of the day, it’s the parents’ job to research the area surrounding the property they buy to ensure their child’s safety. OP is NTA.