Tenant wants the keep honey bees

[James Smyth]

I have a single family investment property located in a small city in upstate NY.  The house is situated on a 0.25 acre property in the city limits. The tenants have been in the house a few years, have taken great care of the place, are paying premium rents, and have expressed they plan to be long term tenants living out their retirement in my rental.

The tenants like to keep busy with projects. The tenants maintain the landscaping well, I have allowed the tenants to make changes to the landscaping, and plant a vegetable garden. 

This past week the tenants requested to keep honey bees on the property.  I'm open minded to the idea and there is a sizable backyard where the tenants could locate the hives. The tenants already got written permission from the city code enforcement and I confirmed with my insurance company that beekeeping wasn't prohibited.  While the insurance company doesn't prohibit keeping bees, they do exclude any damages caused by the bees. For this, I already require the tenants keep a renter's policy and maintain me as a additional interest on the policy.

Has anyone had this come up? What are your thoughts? What would terms to include in a lease addendum be?

[Jody Sperling]

I haven't had this come up with renters, but I have many friends who have kept bees. Bees are good for the area. They will keep pests down, are good natural weed control, and friendly neighbors.

As long as your tenants are responsible, and it sounds as if they are, encouraging them to keep bees will only improve both of your situations. It's a win/win.

[G Brian Juk]

Go for it!

[Ian Walsh]

Interesting request.  I would personally just make sure the insurance would cover any potential issues.

[Nathan Gesner]

I have some tenants and friends that have kept bees and there's never been a problem.

[Theresa Harris]

Your insurance covers it and it sounds like they've been responsible and got permission from the city.  The only thing you might want to do is limit the number of hives they can have and where they are placed.  Also in the addendum state that they have to remove the hive (and bees) when they leave.

[James Mcsweeney]

Hive on property line isn't kosher in some jurisdictions, but that is far from universal. You'll have to check your local ordinances. Some have pretty specific rules about beekeeping but many don't have anything at all. For any legal recourse you will have to find out the specific laws for your local jurisdiction.

[John Teachout]

I'm a proponent of bee keeping but in my mind, inside the city limits on 1/4 acre lot wouldn't be an area I would want hives placed. eg, consider how many people may lie within range of the bees that are highly allergic to stings. I realize honey bees aren't as aggressive as yellow jackets or other types of flying stingers but they do sting people. At minimum, I would try to talk to all the neighbors that adjoin this location and see if they have an issue with it. Rental properties have enough struggles that I wouldn't want to add any potential difficulties.

[JD Martin]

Originally posted by @James Smyth:

I have a single family investment property located in a small city in upstate NY.  The house is situated on a 0.25 acre property in the city limits. The tenants have been in the house a few years, have taken great care of the place, are paying premium rents, and have expressed they plan to be long term tenants living out their retirement in my rental.

The tenants like to keep busy with projects. The tenants maintain the landscaping well, I have allowed the tenants to make changes to the landscaping, and plant a vegetable garden. 

This past week the tenants requested to keep honey bees on the property.  I'm open minded to the idea and there is a sizable backyard where the tenants could locate the hives. The tenants already got written permission from the city code enforcement and I confirmed with my insurance company that beekeeping wasn't prohibited.  While the insurance company doesn't prohibit keeping bees, they do exclude any damages caused by the bees. For this, I already require the tenants keep a renter's policy and maintain me as a additional interest on the policy.

Has anyone had this come up? What are your thoughts? What would terms to include in a lease addendum be?

Congratulations for posting something I don't think I've ever seen come up on here :)

As long as the hive isn't attached to your house (or ridiculously close to it), I really don't imagine it could be a problem. Even if neighbors are allergic to bees, there's nothing that would stop bees from making their own nest on something on your property; all that's happening here is the tenants are encouraging and controlling it.

I've never had anyone ask me this in any of our properties but I do know a few people who have done it and I've never heard of any problems. The only real negative I could think of is the possible attraction of bears to your property (if that's a problem, since you say it's upstate NY).

[James Smyth]

Originally posted by @JD Martin:

Originally posted by @James Smyth:

I have a single family investment property located in a small city in upstate NY.  The house is situated on a 0.25 acre property in the city limits. The tenants have been in the house a few years, have taken great care of the place, are paying premium rents, and have expressed they plan to be long term tenants living out their retirement in my rental.

The tenants like to keep busy with projects. The tenants maintain the landscaping well, I have allowed the tenants to make changes to the landscaping, and plant a vegetable garden. 

This past week the tenants requested to keep honey bees on the property.  I'm open minded to the idea and there is a sizable backyard where the tenants could locate the hives. The tenants already got written permission from the city code enforcement and I confirmed with my insurance company that beekeeping wasn't prohibited.  While the insurance company doesn't prohibit keeping bees, they do exclude any damages caused by the bees. For this, I already require the tenants keep a renter's policy and maintain me as a additional interest on the policy.

Has anyone had this come up? What are your thoughts? What would terms to include in a lease addendum be?

Congratulations for posting something I don't think I've ever seen come up on here :)

As long as the hive isn't attached to your house (or ridiculously close to it), I really don't imagine it could be a problem. Even if neighbors are allergic to bees, there's nothing that would stop bees from making their own nest on something on your property; all that's happening here is the tenants are encouraging and controlling it.

I've never had anyone ask me this in any of our properties but I do know a few people who have done it and I've never heard of any problems. The only real negative I could think of is the possible attraction of bears to your property (if that's a problem, since you say it's upstate NY).

Thanks! I did a search before I posted and I don't see that the topic has been discussed yet. Happy to provide a new point of discussion to the forum!

I appreciate all the feedback. I'm all for the idea of keeping bees. My uncle runs an apiary and I've helped him with the bees before. I have no issue with with the idea, just looking at the business side of things, mainly managing potential liability. Honeybees are completely non-aggressive and the risks for getting stung are if you stand in front of the hive where they come and go from or if you did something to bother the bees.

The house is in the City of Syracuse and I don't believe bears are an issue in the city.  There are plentiful deer, but I don't know of any issue with bees and deer.

The hives would be located about 10' from each property line in that corner and 50' from the nearest neighbor's house.  There is a very friendly relationship with that neighbor and that neighbor made the point to call me and tell me how much he really likes the tenants I have in the house now. I don't foresee getting permission from that neighbor being an issue. 

One thing with honeybees is that if they aren't managed properly hives can split and half the hive will leave and try to find a new place to live, this is called a swarm and it's literally a huge ball of bees that are all surrounding their queen looking for a new place to make a home.  My concern would be liabilities and/or damages of a swarm ended up in my house or a neighbor's house.

Swarm

For the beekeeping lease addendum:

• Based on Theresa's recommendation, specify the maximum number of hives and the location.
• Require the beehives and bee keeping area be maintained.
• Require the bees be removed when they leave and the area be restored.
• Clearly state the tenants are responsible for any damages arising from the beekeeping activities.
• Require the tenants hold me harmless in the case of liability arising from the beekeeping.
• Require they maintain a minimum liability coverage (I'm thinking 300-500k) and me as an additional interest.
• Require they get written verification from their insurance company that beekeeping isn't prohibited.
• Require permission from the neighbor directly adjacent to the beekeeping area?

[Maria S.]

Bees can become an issue in the fall/early winter when they are more protective when people walk in/across their flight path. In this case, the recommended solution is to install a 6 ft tall privacy fence to redirect the flight path up. I suggest that you put something in your addendum that makes the tenant responsible for mitigation.

[Alex Leana]

@James Smyth bees may only stay in the hives for 14 days at a time, otherwise they will have to be added to the lease.. 🐝 📝

[James Smyth]

Originally posted by @Alex Leana:

@James Smyth bees may only stay in the hives for 14 days at a time, otherwise they will have to be added to the lease.. 🐝 📝

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