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Attachment B Joe Kimbell / 3759 New Brighton Rd / Arden Hills, MN 55112 / Our request: For the city of Arden Hills to amend the city code (1325.07, subdivision 6) by including a provision specifically for the keeping of bees that lessens the required distance of a farm structure to the property line, while providing guidelines for overall best practices. Historical context: In February of 2023, my son, Elias Kimbell (15), applied for and was granted a beekeeping scholarship from the Bee Lab at the University of Minnesota. The scholarship provided Elias a pack of bees, the necessary equipment to build the hive, all the needed tools and protective gear, and a mentor for one year. He was also required to attend 9 monthly meetings of the MN Hobby Beekeepers Association and make two public presentations. Before receiving any of the above, however, he was required to complete the UofM beekeeping course (14 hours of pre- recorded instruction divided into modules) where Elias learned: • Hiving of bees • Best management practices for keeping bees in urban and rural settings • Honey production • Successful strategies for preparing colonies to survive winter • Dividing colonies in spring to avoid swarms • Introducing new queens • Best management practices for controlling diseases and mites, using medications as a last resort Last year, we kept our hive at a friend's hobby farm in Mahtomedi where we visited weekly to learn, observe, and participate in the over health and production of the hive. The challenge for us was the time invested to drive to the farm which limited our interaction with the hive to about an hour a week. Scope of our project: 1. To safely install and maintain beehives on our property at 3759 New Brighton Rd. Our lot is .69 acres with expansive open areas on all sides due to the generous size of neighboring lots and the marshland behind us. Though not required for maintaining healthy bees, our property has perimeter fencing on all sides which we see as an asset to the safety of the hive. The survival of bee hives has become a national issue, and we hope to contribute to the positive environmental impact that honeybees provide.