When the city of Santa Rosa told 10-year-old beekeeper Nicholas Bard he had to get rid of his beloved backyard bees — an impressive colony consisting of thousands, he took on a months-long battle to change the city’s zoning laws, and won.

As the Los Angeles Times reports, Bard’s love for bees began as a toddler and evolved at age seven when he met retired schoolteacher and farm owner Ettamarie Peterson, who gave a beekeeping presentation at the local science fair. Peterson later gave Bard his own swarm, which he turned into a thriving colony as part of a project with his 4-H club, per the Press Democrat.

He told KPIX, “It was the best decision I made, ever.”

Per the Times, Bard lovingly listens to his bees and reads to them. Quite endearingly, he addresses them as “Girls” since they're all female.

Then, earlier this year, the city abruptly notified Bard’s family that the bees needed to be removed from their yard because beekeeping is considered an occupation and therefore a zoning violation.

“We thought it was a mistake,” Nicholas’ dad, Zach Bard, told the Press Democrat.

“I was pretty sad and they were sad too,” Nicholas told the LA Times, speaking of his parents and the bees. “When I told them, you can hear how they’re feeling because the tone of their wings, the vibrating changes ... so you could hear that they were sad.”

That’s when Bard decided to spread awareness of the zoning law with the help of the Sonoma County Beekeepers Association, as many of his neighbors, who have their own backyard beehives, were also unaware of the law. Before he knew it, he was getting swarmed with media engagement invites, and he made sure to give his bees plenty of support before such engagements.

“Because all the bees are girls, worker bees are girls, I say, ‘Girls, you’re going to be on the news tonight,’” Bard told the Times. “Or I’ll say, ‘Girls, how are you doing this morning?’ I just want to give them a heads-up.”

Bard’s efforts paid off, and the city is now in the process of amending the law to allow for student beekeeping on residential property, which they expect will take six to eight months.

“The city of Santa Rosa does not want to do anything to discourage people who want to support our pollinator community,” Santa Rosa Mayor Mark Stapp told the Times. “We were thankful to Nicholas and his family for raising this issue, because we didn’t even know that we were preventing this.”

The decision couldn’t have come too soon for Bard. “It’s been five months, almost half a year since all of this started. I’ve learned just how much I care for my bees in the process of this ordeal,” he told the Times.

Image: Brandon Bell/Getty Images