By Rich Bockmann
One Douglaston resident barely avoided a sharp sting from the city Department of Health.
Earlier this month, Tip Sempliner, who is also the TimesLedger Newspapers cartoonist and lives on Little Neck Bay, received a summons carrying a fine for up to $2,000 for failing to provide water for a honey bee hive in front of his home.
When the DOH lifted a ban on beekeeping last year, Jon Pettingill was all set to start his own hive at his employer’s workshop, tucked away on 233rd Place.
Pettingill said when he took a class with the not-for-profit New York City Beekeeping group two years ago, there were no regulations governing the practice in the city because it was illegal. Everything he learned at the class focused on caring for his European honey bees, which he hoped would produce a tasty bounty. He ordered his supplies and started to build the wooden hive that now sits in the foliage behind the fence of Sempliner’s home.
The bee enthusiast registered the hive with the city in May last year, and now he estimates he has about 50,000 bees churning out honey in the hive. With that size colony, he said he could harvest about 150 pounds of the sweet stuff.
The summons Sempliner received states the inspector knocked on his door with no response, but the cartoonist said he was home at the time. After the media picked up on the story, the department decided to reduce the possible fine to a warning, Sempliner said, who added that he has not received an apology from the mayor’s office.
“I can’t wait to see what they’re going to warn me about,” he said.
Sempliner said he spoke with the man who wrote the state’s apiary laws, Paul Cappy, who told him this part of the law was designed to regulate roof-top beehives in areas without access to water.
After finding out about the fine, Sempliner contacted City Councilman Dan Halloran’s (R-Whitestone) office.
A spokesman for Halloran said he would not speculate as to what the inspector did or did not see, but he did call into question the severity of the fine.
“That’s a lot to pay for a hobby,” said Steve Stites, Halloran’s spokesman. “It’s a very hefty fine that seems disproportionate. We have people who have misdemeanors or felonies who get bailed out for less.”
Stites went on to say he felt this was a case of over-regulation.
“It’s another way for the city to raise revenue. We’re always concerned about the financial impact the city leaves on our middle-class constituents,” he said.
Aside from the fact that he claims there was and is a water dish next to the hive, Sempliner could not help to point out the cool breeze wafting in through his back door off the bay.
“I don’t know how many gallons of water are in Little Neck Bay, but it’s connected to the Long Island Sound, which is connected to the Atlantic Ocean,” Sempliner said.
Pettingill said the bees will drink saltwater, but that it is not without consequences.
“Basically, they make salty honey,” he said.
Reach reporter Rich Bockmann by e-mail at rbockmann@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
