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ATTACHMENT 3 Commissioner O'Connor stated that from the pictures submitted by David Browne, it looks like he had about ten hives. Mr. Browne explained that they had a lot of high boxes, but that does not necessarily mean that that is the number of hives they had. He stated that hives are kept in stacks so the bees can travel between the boxes, and each hive consists of about four boxes. He indicated that they probably had three hives at one time in their backyard. Commissioner O'Connor stated that he has not heard from the City that there have been a lot of complaints about bees and assumes that this one Code Enforcement Officer complaint was the first and only complaint. /, .i / Mr. Browne replied that nobody complained directly to them,and that the one call the City received is the only thing they ever heard about: He'stated that his backyard is not huge and he is able to stay out there with no problems, likely because bees in a hive tend not to forage directly next to their hives but up to two miles,flom a home. He added that there would not be a large volurne,or density of bees in,one small area around the hive in the backyard; they would be spread out, maybe within an entire large community. Acting Chair Ritter noted that wasps and bees are different and inquired if one discourages the other and if there is a direct correlation between them, such that there would be less bees when there are less wasps. Mr. Browne replied that`wasps`ere occasionally bees predators; they are drawn to the honey, but the bee's can defend themselves from wasps by guarding their hives. \ :. Acting Chair-Ritter,inquired`if.the,,commercially sold yellow boxes for catching wasps also catch,bees-or if the bees stay away,from those boxes. / Ms. Amos replied that bees stay away from them. Carl Schlachte stated that he is very supportive of beekeeping and appreciates the thoroughness with,which staff is going about it. He indicated that staff is doing a good job at keeping an eye how this is done and the right way to do it, and thanked Ms. Amos for an excellentand.very accurate presentation. Mr. Schlachte expressed concern around fear-based regulations, noting that there were comments made about its impact in the community or to neighbors in a way that implied a negativity associated with bees. He stated that people are afraid of their children being stung by bees, but it should be kept in mind that bees actually live in Pleasanton and were probably here before people were. He indicated that there are a lot of beekeepers in Pleasanton, some of whom collect their bees from feral hives out of the area. He stated that New York City started permitting beekeeping in 2010, and since then, over 200 hives have been registered in the City with no deaths from the activity. DRAFT EXCERPT: PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES, 1/28/2015 Page 6 of 14