ADAMS COUNTY —When local beekeeper Dave Swanson started the Brighton Bee Club four years ago, there was a problem: There was just about nowhere in the city to keep honey bees legally.
Original members of the club have kept their hives in surrounding farms and fields and outlying areas typically beyond Brighton boundaries, he said.
“We formed a club based on member requests to carry (beekeeping) supplies in the area,” Swanson said. Most customers and members live outside city limits.
What started with a few interested locals curious about home honey harvesting has picked up considerable steam in the past few months since for keeping bees and chickens in residential areas.
And now, Brighton Bee Club members can bring their hives out of the outskirts and put them right in their own yard — and new beekeepers can get started in Brighton.
“I’m excited to have two hives in my yard now,” said Swanson, who has lived in Brighton for 29 years. “My neighbors and their kids always want to see what I am up to.”
And Swanson is eager to share. He and other members of the club were integral in getting the city code changed.
“Before drafting the code amendment, I met with a member designated by the bee club to discuss the Bee Club’s needs,” said Aja Tibbs, Brighton’s long range and historic preservation planner. “Club members also provided staff with a list of proposed regulations, which I used as I created the initial drafts of the code … We were mutually able to learn from each other and the regulations are improved because of that knowledge.”
Some code particulars — like not needing neighbor permission or a city permit to get a hive — were suggested by club members and adopted by the city. Tibbs said the city wants to encourage residents to spend their money and time to obtain the proper knowledge and equipment needed for good practice.
Good practice is always the underlying goal with the Brighton Bee Club. Members offered to train the city’s code enforcement officers and animal control personnel on proper techniques to handle swarms or hives, which the city accepted.
“Beekeeping can be a complicated practice, and it’s best for everyone to stay educated on the subject,” Tibbs said. “Our staff will need to know how to recognize and handle the equipment to keep the residents safe, and the Bee Club wants to support good practice to ensure a good reputation of beekeeping is maintained.”
Dan Rau, the bee club’s vice president, has held educational beekeeping seminars for residents in the past. He and other members will do more demonstrations as needed, but none are currently scheduled.
“We also man booths at different events like the Adams County Fair and Brighton’s Eco Fair,” he said. “Interest in beekeeping in general has really picked up lately. Total strangers call me looking for honey. It’s amazing.”
Rau currently tends to four of his own hives among large cottonwood trees in an open field east of E-470, between Brighton and Commerce City.
While checking his hives for healthy queens recently, Rau gently squeezed on a handheld smoke pump at the opening of a beehive. The smoke keeps bees in a more sedated state, which is a trick he’d like to demonstrate to new beekeepers in Brighton.
“The next step will be getting more resources in the area,” Rau said. “There really isn’t anything around here for beekeepers up north except some starter stuff at the Agfinity Ace Hardware on Bromley Lane, but hopefully we’ll see that change soon.”
Megan Mitchell: 303-954-2650, mmitchell@denverpost.com or twitter.com/Mmitchelldp
Brighton bee club meetings:
When: 6:30 p.m. on the second Wednesday of every month
Where: United Power Headquarters, 500 Cooperative Way Contact: info@brightonbee.club or 303-552-9841
