hives and power line access

[Black Creek]

i currently have only one hive in a power line easement. i plan to increase eventually to probably 10 colonies. The power lines are at the edge of a field owned by my father. he's fine with the bees, as long as they are at the edge of the field so he doesnt have to worry about them when he's back there(so i can't really move them out of the easement area) the power company comes back there every couple years to cut limbs off of a couple trees that try to encroach on the lines. what will they do concerning my bees? hives arent a permanent structure, so i dont think there is any legal reason i cant put them there, and (i think) they are far enough away from the trees they cut. but then again, with a few hives on the wrong day and bunch of chainsawing and what not going on, the bees might get a bit perturbed. has anyone else had any issues with the power company?

[Black Creek]

also, i'm prolly 20-25yds from one of their poles.

[Ron Young]

I can't imagine it would be any different than having a fenced area for livestock such as horses or cattle that took in the right-of-way. However, you never know what people will think, especially when they are faced with a possible sting.

[bluegrass]

The easment is just to alow them to service their lines. I don't think they can say anything about the hives being there, but they may also not be responsible for any damage to the hives from cutting. That said the men who do the cutting are highly skilled at taking down trees in a highrisk situation and there is no reason you should expect them to land anything on the hives. I would keep the hives there, but keep brush and trees well away from them so they are easy to see. You could call the company who owns the easment (usually the phone co) and talk with them about it. Also alot of states have laws that keep the easment owner from cutting fruit trees on easments. An easy way to find out is to walk a few easments and see if there are any apple or other fruit trees growing on them untouched. Then plant a bunch of apple trees on the easment around the hives.

[Black Creek]

i'll have to call and ask about that no cutting the fruit tree thing. they certainly chopped down a beautiful big persimmon back there a couple years ago. i was seriously ticked about it. i love persimmons, and even tho there are a few others around, that was the only tree i have ever eaten the fruit from that didnt require a freeze before the fruit would ripen. they were outstanding. it was a wild tree, but i recognized it early on and always bush hogged around it. And my dad protected it too. it's closest branches were at least 30feet from the lines. one day there's buckets of fruit to be had, the next there was nothing but a stump.

[Ron Young]

I know one particular power line easment in the area of Wythville Va. that is kept cleared by means of herbacide. Not sure what effect that may have on a nice hive. I think it is done by plane also.

[clintonbemrose]

You may want to find out what the agreement is on the power line easement. The one going across my property gives them the right to do almost anything they want & when I asked permission to place some hives along the right of way they refused my request.
Clint

[bluegrass]

CLINTON
I look into that again if I where you and check your deed and see if the easement is on it. I know that one thing that is alowed on utility easements is farming of crops and honey is a crop.

[sierrabees]

In urban or semiurban areas where the power lines are not underground there are probably tens of thousands of beehives in people's backyards near the poles. I expect that the power companies deal with this every day without any problems.

[Brent Bean]

I work for a power company, call your company and find out when they plan on working in your area, let them know the situation I’m sure they will work out an arrangement so you can confine the bees on the day or days that they will be close to the hives. I have cut down trees within twenty feet of hives without problems.

[Walliebee]

I once managed a certifided organic farm with a utility easement. Of course we has a zero tolerance for herbicide use around their towers. We informed them, but just to be on the safe side, we kept the vegatation around the towers groomed like turf. That worked for us. If it is overgrown, they will cut and spray da-ginkers out of it!

[Black Creek]

that's kinda what i was think'n. i'll just keep the area cleaned up. problem is the tree limbs way up high. not that i mind cutting them myself really. but, i've heard that if you cut a tree and the tree/limb falls on the lines, then you are responsible for the damage regardless.

[Brent Bean]

Newbeematt:

If you think you can get the tree limbs into the wires your not under a main transmission line. I’m talking 120,000 to 765,000 volts. But I can’t urge you strong enough stay away form any lines, even the ones that feed the canned transformer that powers your house will have 7KV-13.5KV which can conduct threw a tree branch. Working around such voltages I can say you don’t need to actually touch just get within touching distance and sometimes it will reach out and touch you. And your chances for survival are very low. And being responsible for damages could be the least of you worries.

[ December 14, 2006, 10:09 AM: Message edited by: Brent Bean ]

[RonS]

My view differs substantially from most of the posts. Easements give the holder the right to ingress and egress (to come and go) within the defined boundaries of that easement. That means that the power company has the absolute right to enter your property through that easement and you have no right to obstruct them. Bee hives are an obstruction, both physically through the hive structure and because of the bee stings. The reason that they can cut the limbs off of your trees without your permission is through that right of no obstruction. While farmers often plant crops under the wires and across the easement, they do so at their peril. If an emergeny occurs and the power company needs access, the power company can drive their trucks over the crops (beehives) without compensation, as the farmer has infringed upon the easement. The bottom line is that you should read the terms of the easement. It will be filed along with your father's deed records. I'd bet a dollar to a donut that the power company has that absolute right, and that could leave you with broken hives.

[ December 14, 2006, 12:08 PM: Message edited by: RonS ]

[Black Creek]

that makes sense. i plan on keeping the area pretty cleaned out tho. but i mostly worry about people's perception of bees. even tho i plan on keeping my colonies well away from the poles or targeted trees, my idea of far enough is probably not the average person's idea of far enough. i worry that the perceived threat may cause them to possibly spray something on my hives to protect themselves.

[kensfarm]

My farm & 3 farms surrounding me all have high power line easements.

Over the 8 years I've been living here.. the fields are always planted under the lines. This saves the power company millions of dollars because the fields under the power lines are kept clean by the farmers.

The power companies only come in the fall after harvesting.. and the contractors that they hire always leave a card to sign asking permission to enter the property. They've only done branch/tree trimming 2 times since I've lived here.. and to get there equipment on the easements.. they have to go over property that is not part of there easement.

I don't see you having any problems w/ them.. and if they do have any tree's to clear.. they are willing to work w/ you to resolve any problems.

[Black Creek]

i should prolly just call them. i've had mixed feelings about the power company's actions both on mine and my father's property. seems the lines there at my house are bordered by my property and 2 others. my 2 neighbors have 'modified' their landscape(tree plantings, etc.) to encourage them to find a different route into the power line trail. so now (not really noticing when i moved in) the only access to that easement is to drive those giant heavy trucks right through my lawn(and my proposed veggie garden site). they've left massive ruts in the turf that, even after I've worked several afternoons to fix, still cause me one heckuva bumpy ride on my mower. so, i guess my biggest problem is not really knowing the law in regards to the whole situation. what they can and can't cut, where they can and can't drive, etc. My lawn(from my driveway to the power lines) is deffinitely not part of their easement. And after witnessing that level of disregard to someone's well maintained lawn, i worry about how they'd treat a few colonies of bees that are mostly out of everyone's sight.

[Brent Bean]

Newbeematt:

What power company do you have in your area?

[tecumseh]

newbeematt sezs:
where they can and can't drive,

tecumseh thinks:
likely only thru the defined easement. they should not be able to legally appropriate 'other' property just to access their easement.

in mr clintonbemrose case I would simply have set the hives up there on the easement without ever asking permisssion (since the power company does not own the property they do not have the legal right to either allow or refuse any request-if they did then this would suggest ownership of said easement and then the power company would be forced to pay property tax*** on the defined real estate parcel). If the power company can define to you what you can and can't do (this of course being limited to those things which neither interfers or interrupts the transmission of power) then they have falsely appropriated your property. any act that purposefully harms or destroy your property would be considered in most courts to be malicious valdalism (and NO commericial concern want to show up in some 'local' court room to answer that kind of charges). as rons suggested a good review of the original easement papers would likely clarify some points.

now I have never really directly dealt with power line folks, but I do have a gas line which crosses my old farmstead and I have never had any problems dealin' with them in any way.

***
via easement the property tax is avoided by the gas line/ power line people. this is generally the unstated purpose of doin' busines in this manner.

[tecumseh]

newbeematt adds:
so now (not really noticing when i moved in) the only access to that easement is to drive those giant heavy trucks right through my lawn(and my proposed veggie garden site). they've left massive ruts in the turf that, even after I've worked several afternoons to fix, still cause me one heckuva bumpy ride on my mower.

tecumseh replies:
most commercial concern of this nature (gas line/power line) have folks that deal directly (and full time) with remediation of damages. you should contact them directly and have them repair (or pay to repair) this damage.

[Jim Fischer]

> My view differs substantially from most of the
> posts. Easements give the holder the right to
> ingress and egress

Yes, they do. But the right of ingress and egress
does NOT include the right to do any damage. If
the power line was a buried run, the right to dig
and maintain the buried service would be overtly
defined in the easement, so in the case of a non
buried service easement, even the ruts left by
the heavy equipment mentioned in a prior post
would be cause to demand that they repair the
damage they caused.

Look at the situation from a practical point of
view - is any work crew going to "disturb" some
beehives? I think that they will see the hives,
and give them a wide berth, so perhaps one of
those "Danger - Beeyard" signs that I view as
so counterproductive would be useful in this
case.

[Fusion_power]

Newbeematt,

Did that persimmon tree put up any sprouts? If so, you can have a new persimmon tree in short order. I would also suggest you contact Northern Nut Growers if you are seriously interested in persimmons.

http://www.icserv.com/nnga/index.html

Darrel Jones

[Black Creek]

the power company is Dominion Virginia Power.

no shoots came up from that persimmon, i was hoping for that and checked regularly. thanks for the northern nut growers link

[Aspera]

The area of PA (Chester County) where I used to live specifically forebade the placement of hives in powerline access areas. It actually even took some work to have horseback riding on these spaces.

[peggjam]

Aspera, ask them when their're gonna start paying taxes on that little piece of heaven they have. I refuse to grant easements on any of my property, that way, I don't have to deal with them.