LEBANON — When Merrill Fromer, and his wife Rosemary, lived in a townhouse in New Jersey, they dreamed of having a garden. So, in 1996, when the family moved to Lebanon, the Fromers bought a seven-acre property off Ohio 42 to garden.

Soon, they found something was missing.

“To have a strong garden, you have to have good pollution,” said Fromer.

Today, the accountant has 18 honey bee colonies, which can fluctuate from 20,000 bees in the spring to 80,000 by late summer. Since about 2006, many natural honey bee hives have collapsed for unknown reasons, leaving a $15 billion-farming industry to find new ways to function.

Fromer supplies Hidden Valley Fruit Farm in Lebanon nine bee colonies to pollinate the vegetation, for compensation.

“At least 80 percent of the produce in your grocery store has to be pollinated by bees,” said Fromer.

The demise of the honey bee has caused a 25 percent increase in beekeepers in the past five years, according to Bee Culture magazine.

Along with new places to raise them.

In addition to large metropolises like New York City and Los Angeles, hives can be found on the roofs of downtown Cincinnati’s Hilton Netherland Plaza and Clifton’s Kingsgate Marriott.

Even suburbanites are riding the urban beekeeper wave.

Michelle Hansen, who lived in Deerfield Twp. for four years, wanted to raise bees in Water’s Edge subdivision to quell her food supply concerns.

“Americans are so far removed from their food sources, many don’t see that our food is dependent on bees,” said Hansen.

When bee equipment arrived at Hansen’s home in spring 2008, her neighbor alerted Deerfield Twp. An inspection of Hansen’s property determined that bees were not permitted in the residential area.

Hansen found the Deerfield Twp. ordinance unreasonable.

“Just because bees are in your backyard, doesn’t mean you’ll be stung. Bees are not hunters,” said Hansen, who has been stung twice in her three years as a beekeeper.

Today, Hansen raises bees in her suburban backyard, in what she calls “bee-friendly” Pittsburgh, after relocating for her husband’s job, this summer.

A new zoning code was adopted in Deerfield Twp. Aug. 5 to allow bees in residential areas, after a year and a half of meetings with township residents and trustees. No more than two hives are permitted on one property and hives must for at least 10 feet from lot lines and 25 feet from homes. Additional restrictions apply.

In Mason, hives must be at least 100 feet from property lines. Lebanon, Morrow and Maineville have no ordinances about beekeeping.