ELR Citation: 51 ELR 20108
No(s). 20-1584 (4th Cir. Jun 11, 2021)

The Fourth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for a county in South Carolina in a lawsuit concerning the county's alleged taking of honey sellers' bees. The sellers argued their bees died after the county sprayed pesticide in an effort to kill mosquitoes, and thus constituted a Fifth Amendment taking of their private property for which just compensation was owed. A district court granted summary judgment for the county, holding there was no taking because the loss of the sellers' bees was only an incidental consequence of the county's action. The appellate court found that the death of the bees was neither intentional nor foreseeable, and therefore affirmed summary judgment for the county.