By Brianne Hogan / Source: Ecorazzi

After a sharp decline in the bee population over the past decade, lawmakers in Los Angeles voted to make backyard beekeeping legal in the city.

City Council instructed city attorneys to prepare a final ordinance to allow all homeowners to maintain their own hives. A final version is expected to be brought back for a council vote soon.

Although backyard beekeeping is not legal in the city’s residential zones, urban beekeeping has grown in popularity among residents over the concern that the bee population is bottoming out.

Bees are considered important crop pollinators and their dwindling numbers could mean the loss of almonds, apples and a number of other important crops. In the U.S. alone, bees are responsible for pollinating $30 billion worth of crops every year: roughly a third of the food Americans consume. The decrease of bees has been attributed to climate change, diseases and the use of pesticides.

“We want to enable this increasingly popular activity even while we preserve the rights of the city to address any complaints about poorly maintained hives,” said Councilman Jose Huizar.

Some concerned residents are worried about any possible aggression from the bees, however bee experts have told officials that the variety of honeybees used in beekeeping are not aggressive — except they may sting in self-defense if their hive is approached (which is understandable).

Huizar also said that the move could benefit the state’s major agricultural industries, as some almond growers are currently paying top dollar to maintain hives in places as far as New Zealand.

If the City Council approves the final ordinance, Los Angeles would join Santa Monica as well as New York and Denver in legalizing backyard beekeeping. In 2013, the U.S. government joined with the European Union to pass legislation protecting the vulnerable species.

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