Story by Chris Lawrence
SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — An intervention in a lawsuit by the West Virginia Department of Agriculture has cleared the way for a South Charleston resident to manage bee hives on his property.
The matter began when Alex Urban sought a permit from the city of South Charleston to keep honey bees on his property. The permit was denied under a city ordinance which prohibited the keeping of domesticated livestock which included bees. Urban sought assistance from the Department of Agriculture.
“We talked with the Mayor and with the bee keeper and there was no resolution coming, The bee keeper decided to file in court and we interviewed him and decided to join the case,” said State Commissioner of Agriculture Kent Leonhardt.
Urban and the Department of Agriculture successfully argued in Kanawha County Circuit Court the City of South Charleston overstepped its legal authority by attempting to regulate honeybees, an area governed exclusively by the West Virginia Apiary Act. Additionally, the ordinance posed a direct challenge to the agency’s authority under the West Virginia Right to Farm Law, which protects the rights of farmers and beekeepers statewide.
“It was a resounding win for not only the plaintiff, but for the Department of Agriculture,” explained Leonhardt.
“There’s no keeping bees out of the city. So to try and stop somebody from keeping a food production didn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense to us,” he added.
Leonhardt explained the city cannot regulate honey production because bees are not domestic livestock. They are wild and are only managed, they have no barriers on where they can go like other domesticated farm animals. The city raised issues about the potential for bee stings as a result of the hive, but the court sided with the plaintiff and Leonhardt who argued there are plenty of non-managed bees and other insects which pose the same risk.
Ultimately, Leonhardt said it was an affirmation of what’s already a strong state law.
“We have one of the strongest Right to Farm Laws in the nation here in West Virginia. Those were our arguments and the court agreed with us and gave us a resounding win and declared the city’s law null and void,” he said.