North Lebanon Township resident Brandon Pokrop encouraged the township s board of supervisors to consider passing an ordinance that would allow managed beekeeping on most properties in the township. Bees are essential as pollinators for certain Pennsylvania crops such as apples, cherries, peaches, blueberries, pumpkins, and mellons. Adding more apiaries will help slow or reverse the decline in the population of pollinators.
Pokrop provided a sample ordinance created in consultation with the Pennsylvania Beekeepers Association, the Penn State Center for Pollinator Research, and the Pennsylvania Apiary Advisory Board.
The sample ordinance was written to allow the municipality to know who is keeping bees, to lessen the likelihood that the bees would become a nuisance to neighbors, and to restrict the number of hives on a property.