skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Iowa's Beekeeping Boom Prompts New Website of Local Laws

play audio
Play

Monday, January 25, 2016   

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa - When Julia McGuire of West Des Moines started keeping bees five years ago, she began connecting with others on the Internet for help. She quickly found the number one question was whether it was legal to keep bees in a certain city, which ultimately led her to create a searchable website.

Beelaws.org contains information about all city ordinances in Iowa concerning backyard beekeeping. McGuire says she began beekeeping as an extension of her daughter's hobby, and has found neighbors to be supportive.

"We've had a graduation party in our backyard and nobody even realized the bees were that close to them," says McGuire. "A lot of people decide, 'Oh, you have bees, I'm going to try to help them by planting something that's going to be blooming when nothing else is blooming.' So, it's been really positive."

Some 77 cities across Iowa are included on the "beelaws" website, which is funded by the Iowa Honey Producers Association and a USDA Specialty Crop block grant. There are nearly 4,500 beekeepers in Iowa, triple the number from a decade ago.

McGuire says it's necessary to think about bees in a different way than other animals raised for food.

"People tend to think of bees in terms of traditional livestock where you have a certain, like, 'I've got 200 head,'" says McGuire. "You don't really do that with bees. With bees, they're purchased by the pound. There are approximately 9,000 bees per pound."

She says the average backyard beekeeper has four to six pounds in a colony, meaning some 50,000 bees.

McGuire adds she isn't surprised there's been heightened interest in beekeeping.

"And I always tell people that bees are just the perfect, perfect animal because you don't have to feed them, you don't have to water them," she says. "You don't have to round them up to roost at night; they do all of those things on their own. And they make a surplus that you can harvest for yourself at the end."

The website also includes a list by city of where beginning beekeeping classes are regularly held.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021