Bethany, Okla. ? State officials are buzzing about a ban on beekeeping in Bethany.

Bethany City Council voted Tuesday to ban beekeeping in the city after hearing complaints about aggressive swarms. But state officials say the local rule violates a state law.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Beekeepers Association say that under the 2005 Apiary Act, Oklahoma cities and towns can regulate or zone beekeeping but not ban it.

“We need bees,” said Jack Carson, spokesman for the Agriculture Department. “This law was passed … to prevent cities from trying to do this.”

Carson said Bethany is the first city to try to ban bees since the 2005 state law passed. He said the state law should override it.

Bethany residents have complained about bees they think are coming from the home of beekeeper Brandon George, 22, who keeps several hives at his home.

Ron Burchett, a planning and zoning commissioner in Bethany who lives near George, said his mother was stung in May and hospitalized. Other residents said they couldn’t spend time in their back yards because of repeated swarmings.

Teresa Bell, a member of the beekeepers association, said domestic beekeepers play an important role.

“We have to have honeybees for pollination,” Bell said. “But the biggest significance to not banning honeybees is if you have European bees or apiaries in an area, then Africanized bees are less likely to move in.”

Africanized bees are known to be much more aggressive and dangerous than the European honey bees raised by beekeepers.

Bell said Africanized bees have been breeding with European honeybees in Oklahoma since 2004.

George, who was the Agriculture Department’s 2003 state Junior Beekeeper of the Year, said his bees are not Africanized but have been aggressive lately because of recent heavy rains. The bees are multiplying faster than in previous years because there are more plants and flowers to feed on. Bell said bees tend to be more aggressive in cloudy weather.

Burchett said the city of Bethany must take action to protect its residents.

“One person has been sent to the emergency room already,” he said. “What is it going to take? Someone to die? Then what is the Agriculture Department going to do?”