Beekeeping should be allowed in suburban neighborhoods

This is my first one, so this will be interesting. "And beekeeping, as we all should know, is all about going to their nest, provoking it, and taking their honey. There is no fine means of extracting honey from a hive besides actually making solid, physical contact with the bees and forcefully taking their hard-earned honey. " I do not see how your statement refutes mine in Round 1 in any way. "Honeybees would in reality be better pets than cats or dogs. " By this statement I meant that honeybees are better than cats or dogs because the latter 2 cannot increase natural biodiversity within the ecosystem. It was a mistake to refer to them as pets, but please replace the word "pet" with "animal". "Honeybees are already in the suburbs, flying from one plant to the next, pollinating it and spreading the pollen. They're already here and they've been here for an extremely long time. " Surely there is biodiversity already in the ecosystem, but my statement was that "introducing honeybees in the suburbs would INCREASE biodiversity among plants. " You interpreted it that honeybees would create biodiversity. "That's only at the cost of the bees who spend a lot of time making honey. They use honey during the winter to survive and feed their future workers. " Yes that's true indeed, but responsible beekeepers should not take all of the honey. They would discover this by researching before they start beekeeping, such as buying a book and reading it. So far, my points have not been refuted. I will now take on your points. "Because so many people hear that taking honey is easy, they become overconfident and occasionally, ignorant, and take very little precaution. Without precaution, the bees will defend their own hive, resulting in casualties for the poor, confused keeper. " What casualties will result for the poor, confused keeper? Stings, death? Like I said, beginner beekeepers should research beekeeping before they start. The same is for people who also want to own dogs, cats & other pets. Do you really think that the owners of a Pit Bull that mauled my friend's face in 2007 really knew what they were doing? "But one fear is that people will become addicted to this "fun hobby" and won't focus much on their own job, the job that produces technology, inspires new ideas, and truly helps our economy" This is is ridiculous and irrelevant to the debate. "As I previously said, the drone and the buzzing of thousands of bees bunched together is extremely irritating and certainly not music to your ears. " A beehive is an enclosed structure with usually one hole for the bees to enter and exit. How would the sound be able to exit the hive? And where is a source to back up this claim? "How would a person take many bees home? He or she would steal the bees and force them home. " There are things called "Package bees". See . http://www.honeyflowfarm.com.... The process is illustrated as well. Nobody would be stealing any bees and again I have not found anything that suggests that from the sources you cited. "You need to build a fence to provide wind protection and so that a bee doesn't smack you in the head. " I actually laughed at this one. But suburban neighborhoods that usually require privacy fences are also usually the only neighborhoods that restrict against beekeeping. Same holds true with farm animals. Suburbs with chain link fences are more relaxed with their rules in general. So the fence problem will be alleviated in the case of suburban neighborhoods that restrict against beekeeping. "You need a constant source of water and most bees love small creeks and ponds, which are hard to recreate. There's the possibility of a swarm and you need to control it and, as the article reads, there is no 100% success with it. Though it reads that the swarm is gentle, just look at the picture on the left. Does that look gentle? Not at all, for it looks like the poor woman will be stung a hundred times. " Well put out a bowl of water everyday. Dogs & Cats also need water. Bees will use the nearest water source they find and if the bowl of water is there, then they will use it. And so what if bees go to small creeks and ponds. Is that a problem? When honeybees swarm, they normally fly only a few yards away. Increasing the chances of the swarm staying in the beekeeper's yard. When swarming, bees have nothing to defend, so they'll be less likely to sting. Swarms only last for a couple hours anyway before scout bees find a new nesting site (2). "The stress from the beekeeping will certainly turn many off of the subject. " Your 5th source never mentions stress occurring from beekeeping. Among the points you brought up, I did not see any that would suggest that beekeeping should be illegal in suburban neighborhoods. Just points that would discourage a hobbyist or a future beekeeper. Some sources you cited did not back up what you were arguing. You didn't really debate anything that would suggest that you are against beekeeping other than the noise issue which I would like a citation for. And since there wasn't much to refute, I will summarize. 1. Introducing honeybees will increase biodiversity in the area (3). 2. Honeybees are more beneficial to the environment & neighborhood than a dog or a cat by pollinating garden crops. 3. The person most at risk of being stung is the beekeeper or anything that messes around with the nest because the bees are trying to protect their honey & their young brood. 4. Bees have no reason to sting when gathering pollen & nectar (2). 5. Dogs can attack people too (4). 6. People will not flee the workforce in masses and try beekeeping. 7. Bees have many requirements just like dogs & cats do. 8. Bees don't make lots of noise that would be of any nuisance. The bottom line: Beekeeping is no more dangerous than having a pet dog, and is no more of a nuisance of a pet dog and cat and therefore beekeeping should be allowed suburban neighborhoods. Sources: 1. . http://www.honeyflowfarm.com... 2. O'Toole, Christopher, and Anthony Raw. Bees of the World. New York: Facts on File, 1991. Print. 3. . http://www.antaisce.org... 4. . http://www.dogbitelaw.com...