SMALL BEE FARMS CAUSE DAMAGES

[Anchor Lead]

The Seoul Metropolitan Government is promoting bee farming in the city as a way to restore the natural ecosystem. But, small bee farms are causing a lot of inconvenience to residents due to the lack of regulations.

[Pkg]

Back in April, a colony of bees suddenly appeared at a convenience store in Seoul. The store reopened after rescue workers were dispatched to remove the insects. The bees came from a nearby honeybee farm located in a residential area.

[Soundbite] Lee Sang-hyuk(Convenience store owner) : "We were trapped inside while our customers could not enter the store. It took two hours to catch all the bees."

Jeon Seo-hyun, who lives in this area, was stung by a bee last week and had to receive medical treatment.

[Soundbite] Jeon Seo-hyun(Resident stung by bees) : "There are kindergartens and schools within a 30 to 50-meter radius from here. I'm worried that children may also get stung."

As damage caused by bees continues to grow, nearby schools began to take action together.

[Soundbite] (Elementary school official(VOICE MODIFIED)) : "One of our teachers was stung by bees in that area. We sent a letter to the district ward and reported the incident."

However, there are no regulations in place to prevent damage from honeybee farms. Under the current law on bee farming, small farms with fewer than 30 honeybee colonies are not required to register. Hence, their exact number is unknown.

[Soundbite] (Bee farmer(VOICE MODIFIED)) : "There is nothing wrong with raising bees on the rooftop of my building as a hobby."

[Soundbite] Shin Ho-chul(Dongdaemun-gu District Ward) : "The laws ban raising livestock such as hens in urban areas, but they say nothing about bees. We have no choice but to persuade people."

Currently there are 24 bee farms with 332 bee colonies in parks located in downtown Seoul. But with zero guidelines on urban honeybee farming, damage from bee farms continues to snowball.