Honolulu lawmakers are considering legislation that would restrict beekeeping. In contrast, the aim on Hawaii island is just the reverse: Free the bees.

Bill 144, under consideration by the Hawaii County Council, aims to foster small-scale agriculture and increase local food production by liberalizing the county’s zoning rules as they apply to beekeeping. But at the Honolulu City Council, Bill 64 would tighten the zoning screws.

The Hawaii island measure would specify that the state’s Right to Farm Act applies to beekeepers; add bees to the existing definition of livestock; cut required setbacks from 1,000 feet to 25 feet; and make beekeeping a permitted use in all county zoning districts, with reasonable standards for the number of hives per lot. In addition, the state Department of Health (DOH) would no longer be required to inspect sites for proposed apiaries, as it does for piggeries.

Currently, beekeepers on Hawaii island are limited to operating in only agricultural zones; must obtain permi- ssion from the DOH before setting up a hive; and are not allowed to place hives within 1,000 feet of another zoning district or a “major public street,” which Hawaii County has interpreted to mean any public street — much to the frustration of one Kona beekeeper who was forced to move hives that were 980 feet away from a road. In any case, these three rules have served to basically bar beekeeping in or near the island’s towns.

Still, according to the Big Island Beekeepers Association, beekeeping is close to a $20 million industry on the island, and honeybees help pollinate more than $200 million worth of crops and fruit throughout the state. In addition, Hawaii island supplies 60% of Canada’s queen bees and about 40% of the queens of U.S. mainland hives.

The Hawaii Department of Agriculture stopped collecting data on beekeeping in 2018, but records from that year indicate Hawaii island was home to more than 18,000 of the state’s 20,700 colonies. Easing beekeeping restrictions on the island via Bill 144 would help the industry to grow even further.

Honolulu, on the other hand, currently has a fairly straightforward law in place that allows beekeeping almost anywhere on Oahu.

Outside of agricultural zones, hives are limited to no more than eight per lot, and they must be 25 feet from any property line or 15 feet away if separated by a six-foot fence or hedge.

In an effort to eliminate that relatively broad scope of freedom, without indicating why, the most recent draft of Honolulu’s Bill 64 would impose a 5,000-square-foot minimum lot size on beekeeping, icing out hives in most of urban areas. The bill also would curtail the number of hives allowed per lot, with a maximum of six for lots larger than 20,000 square feet, and fewer than that for smaller parcels.

Public health doesn’t appear to be a reason for Oahu lawmakers to clamp down on beekeeping, as a spokesperson from the state Vector Control Branch told the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii that there haven’t been any complaints this year about beekeeping in Honolulu — though the branch does usually get a few each year, which it refers to local apiary clubs.

Whatever the reason, anyone concerned about local agriculture, sustainability or entrepreneurship should hope that Honolulu lawmakers would leave well enough alone.

“The beekeeping industry is small here on Oahu, and it has much room for growth,” Oahu beekeeper Tadd Rienstra told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “But the rules need to allow for growth.”

For Hawaii’s farmers to flourish, all state and county lawmakers must repeal rules that get in the way. Freeing the bees should be a part of that effort.

Jonathan Helton is a policy researcher at the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.