Several Village of Lynbrook officials, accompanied by a police officer, seized a beehive last month from a home while the occupants were not home. 

Daryl Altman and her husband Robert Shepard had been raising the bees in their backyard after they attended classes held by the Long Island Beekeepers Club and after two years of research. They say they started the hive as a hobby, and that neighbors were appreciative when they got honey straight from the comb. 

"I came home from work and looked in the backyard, the hive was gone," says Shepard, who added that he felt violated. 

The beekeepers were told that they violated village ordinance 185-7, which prohibits "insect infestation." The officials had a warrant when they seized the hive. 

"Our law says no bees kept, no infestation in the backyard…if you want to keep bees for commercial reasons, you have to have 5 acres," Mayor William Hendrick tells News 12 Long Island. 

"The definition of an infestation is pests that are doing harm…these are not pests," says Altman. 

Altman and Shepard hired a lawyer and plan to take the village to court. 

Beekeeping at home is allowed in parts of Suffolk and New York City.