Whanganui bee lover says their poop is driving her mad

Springvale resident Lyn Rees loves bees but wishes they would "find another motorway".

Mrs Rees contacted the Wanganui Chronicle after reading about a bee flight path survey being carried out by Whanganui District Council in an area of Springvale after complaints about "bee poop" and stings.

Mrs Rees' home is not part of the survey but she says bee poop is a real problem there.

"The bee poop drives me mad," Mrs Rees said.

Read more: Complaints about urban beehives prompt Whanganui District Council survey
Whanganui council urges care with urban bee keeping

"All the windows and walls down the left hand side of the house are always covered with it. Being waxy I use a scraper and scrape it off then clean the windows. The next day it is back again so I have given up on the window and wall cleaning."

Mrs Rees says the bee poop also gets on vehicles and washing.

"We only see a few bees around, nothing startling. We've been in the house for 10 years after moving back from Auckland and the amount of bee poop hasn't got worse in that time, it's been constant.

"There is a honey place behind us in Mosston Rd so they probably are our friendly neighbours. I love bees and I love honey so I don't want them to shift it or anything like that.

"My nephew has bees and I asked him a bit about this and he said, 'When you wake up, what do you do'. Of course I said, 'have a stretch and then go toilet'; he said, 'well so do our friends the bees, you must be in the bee path'.

"I wish they would find another motorway though."

Under the council's keeping of animals, poultry and bees bylaw, hives cannot be placed within 3m of a public footpath or within 10m of a neighbour's dwelling. There must be a fence or dense foliage at least 1.8m tall to provide a barrier.

The council has the following tips for neighbourly beekeeping and dealing with bee poop:
- Keep concentrations of hives down. To avoid bees becoming a nuisance, the council's environment team suggests having only two beehives on a 500sq m to 700sq m property.
- Check with your neighbours in case their property is being damaged by the bees. Most people will be happy to have some bees nearby. Problems only tend to arise when there are too many hives concentrated in an urban area.
- Ensure there is a fence or dense foliage at least 1.8m tall to provide a barrier to neighbouring properties.
- If buildings are affected by bee poop, pre-soak, waterblast or wash with soap to remove it.
- Use ethanol, isopropyl alcohol or products with eucalyptus oil to remove the poop from clothing.