Council for the Rural Municipality of Ritchot would like to allow for beekeeping within urban areas.

Mayor Chris Ewen says the municipality has received quite a few inquiries from people interested in bringing bees to their backyards. The problem is, Ritchot did not have a policy in place prior to now.

So, Ewen says they have amended their Zoning Bylaw to set the table for residents who might be interested in this venture.

"Because of the bee situation around North America, they are slowly decreasing in numbers, which is just an unhealthy thing going on in the world, we need the bees," says Ewen. "So people have been coming to us, asking if they can keep bees."

If a resident is interested in dabbling in beekeeping, they will need to apply for a Conditional Use. At that point, neighbours will be notified and based on feedback, council can decide whether to approve it.

Ewen notes there will be parameters. He says residents will probably be allowed two hives per property. There will also be rules on how high a fence must be. Ewen says the higher the fence, the greater the chance that bees do not fly low enough to interact with human beings on that property.

"We've done our due diligence on this, we've looked at other communities," says Ewen. "We've looked at the city of Winnipeg's bylaws, we've looked at neighbours' bylaws and I think we've got it down pat here."

Ewen says their Junior Councillor Brynna Gumieny passionately debated this topic with Council, stating why she feels this is important for Ritchot.

"It's nice to see the younger generation want to see sustainable environments," says Ewen. "They want to see initiatives like this in the home and it just goes to show that we're coming into a new era where hobby beekeeping is going to be one of the new things, and we like that."

Council voted unanimously in favour of amending their Zoning Bylaw to allow for beekeeping in urban areas.