THE VebieNe

November 24, 1985 News 985-213

WEST Vancouver’s
battle of the bees has
entered its winter cam-

paign.

Ordered by West Van-
couver District Council to
reduce his swarm of approx-
imately 500,000 honeybees
and 15 hives to 100,000
honeybees and four hives by
November 30, apiarist Remo
Gambioli remains adamant
that he will reduce his bee
family to no less than
200,000 bees and eight hives.

The Wellington Avenue
resident was thrust under the
glare of media spotlights fol-
fowing a July 15 West Van-
couver council meeting in
which residents of neighbor-
ing Rosebery Avenue tore
into council members for
the lack of district action over
what. they said was the
destruction of their personal
propertics and individual
sanities by Gambioli’s mob
of bees.

FLIGHT PATH

Clifford Dickinson of
6455 Rosebery and Alex-
ander Cameron of 6440
Rosebery told council that
their homes were in the
direct flight path of the bees
and consequently in the
fall-out zone of an endless
yellow rain of bee droppings
that fouled their clothing,
automobiles, windows and
patio furniture.

Though council voted
against adopting a bylaw
controlling the number of
bees that could legally be
kept by West Vancouver res-
idents, it made a request that
Gambioli reduce his hives
from 15 to four by the end
of November.

Initially. Gambioli com-
plained that it had taken him
10 years to build up his bee
population to 15 hives and
that the bees were more than
just producers of honey to
him, they were his personal
pets: “They are like family
to me.”

He said he would consider

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reducing his hives during the
winter when bees are inac-
tive, but had not decided
whether that reduction
would be permanent.

On Wednesday, Gambioli
said he had thus far sold two
hives to a beekeeper in Sur-
rey and was sending four
additional hives to North
Vancouver ‘‘for adoption.**

As far as getting rid of
any more hives, the con-
struction foreman said with
a smile, ‘tit depends how I
feel. It depends if the
neighbors behave
themselves, if they raise 100
much noise, | might go back
up to 15,”

WITHIN RIGHTS

Because he has two pro-
perties in West Vancouver,
Gambioli said he is within
his rights, under the original
request of West Vancouver
council, to retain eight hives.

But Richard Wagner,
West Vancouver district’s
social planner, disagreed. He
said eight hives ‘‘would not
be acceptable, If he insists
on keeping more than four
hives I guess we'll have to
take some other action.
We'll have to enact a
bylaw.”’

Gambioli, who maintains
that he does not want to be a
troublesome neighbor said
his bees are worth at least $1
each, and with his swarm of
500,000, they’re ‘‘worth
more than their houses and
cars."”

“But no one has ever ap-
proached me over my bees,”
Gambioli explained. ‘'The
first I heard about the com-
plaints was when | read them
in the paper. It hurts me to
give my bees away, but I
don’t want to fight it’s not
worth it. lam willing to talk.”

Alexander Cameron’s
wife, Jocelyn, said Wednes-
day the damage from Gam-
bioli’s bees has stapped with
the onset of winter, but the
hives remain.

‘There's not very much
we can do, it’s up to council.
He's not. willing to talk.
We'll just have to wait until
spring, I guess.’’

1 Classified 986-6222 Circulation 986-1337

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PAGE 5

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NEWS photo Stuart Davis

THREE LITTLE pigs made three little friends last week at Maplewood Farm. The pigs are just new Co the farm and X
were intently watched over by (left to right) Kate Butler, Janet Cottier and Tyler Collinson,