Des Plaines leaders will go back to the books to continue researching beekeeping after aldermen on Thursday said they wanted more information on what safety issues the hobby poses and how the practice is regulated.

“A lot of questions have been asked and I don’t hear a lot of answers,” said Ald. Mike Charewicz, who supported the issue, at a legal and licensing committee meeting in council chambers.

In Des Plaines, beekeeping is not allowed, but resident Rick Bohning last year asked the council to consider it. He said he doesn’t want to be a full-time beekeeper but would like to make honey as a a hobby with his wife Wendy.

In a survey of 12 area communities, Des Plaines found four allowed beekeeping, one prohibited it while the rest left the practice unregulated. Two hives in two different locations already exist in Des Plaines, Bohning said, though city staff said they were unaware of them.

Aldermen asked Bohning a number of questions at the meeting, ranging from how dead bees and used honey combs are disposed of to if bees drink water. Safety was also a big concern.

“If you see a honey bee on a flower in your backyard, you can pick that thing up…you can touch it. It will not sting you,” Bohning said. “They are not aggressive except when protecting their honey store in their hive.”

His wife, Wendy, said honey bees do well in the suburbs.

“Des Plaines wants to be green. This is an easy way to do it,” she said.

Though the city so far has no stance on the issue, Acting City Manager Jason Slowinski said certain restrictions should be in place in case beekeeping is allowed. He pointed to regulations like registering with the state, obtaining a city license, paying an administrative fee for inspections and licenses as well as including a minimum lot size.

When asked if there has been a big demand for beekeeping, Slowinski said no one has contacted his office beside Bohning. Ald. Dick Sayad said he has been researching the issue since it first surfaced last year and wants to know how beekeepers are trained. If an ordinance is created, rules must be created and followed, he added.

“It’s not whether we want the bees or not. I think if we are going to take that avenue…I think we have to get an expert bee guy in here to make sure we are actually covering” everything, he said.

Des Plaines resident Gale Kuffel is not a beekeeper and has no intention of keeping hives, but the hobby interests her immensely. She said honey bee colonies are rapidly disappearing and the insects pollinate crops and flowers.

“We really need them,” she said. “Anybody who can keep bees is kind of helping the cause along. And it is an important one.”