Monterey County Beekeeping Regulations

Apiaries are among the agricultural uses allowed on a minimum of ten acres. In the coastal zone the same uses need a coastal administrative permit unless exempt.

Hive limit: No hive count is set. The gate is the ten acre minimum parcel size, and in the coastal zone a permit.

Note: The number that decides this for most people in unincorporated Monterey County is ten acres. Apiaries are not regulated on their own; they sit inside a bundle of agricultural uses, and that whole bundle is allowed on parcels of at least ten acres. If your land is smaller than that, this provision does not help you and you will need to ask the county what applies instead, because we have not found a separate small-parcel or hobbyist route. If you are in the coastal zone there is a second step: the same uses are allowed but a coastal administrative permit is required in each case unless your situation is exempt, and some uses need a full coastal development permit. Neither the inland nor the coastal provision sets a hive count, so the constraint here is land and permits rather than numbers.

• All agricultural uses on a minimum of ten acres, including crop and tree farming, livestock farming, animal husbandry, apiaries and aviaries, are allowed except for those uses requiring an administrative or use permit. 21.16.030
• The same agricultural uses on a minimum of ten acres are principal uses allowed with a coastal administrative permit required in each case unless exempt. 20.16.040
• The same ten acre agricultural use allowance applies, with a coastal administrative permit required unless exempt and excluding uses needing a coastal development permit. 20.17.040

No local beekeeping rule found in the municipal code. State registration with the county agricultural commissioner still applies.

Note: Searched against the live code in 2026 with no result, so this card no longer reads as unknown. Three caveats are worth carrying, each learned from a real California code this year. A code can regulate bees without naming them, by folding beekeeping into a defined use class such as "agriculture" or "animal husbandry" and then regulating that class in a zoning table. Vocabulary can hide a rule outright, "bee culture" being the most obscure term found so far. And obligations can sit outside the animals and zoning titles entirely, including apiary provisions in wildland-urban interface fire codes. Check Monterey County’s own card as well as this one, since county and city rules differ and the county’s may be the one that binds you. California still requires apiary registration with the county agricultural commissioner.

A use permit from the City Manager is required before keeping any honey bees, and every neighbour within two hundred feet must be notified at least twenty days before it issues. Hives go in side or rear yards only, behind solid screening or fencing at least six feet high, and count as accessory structures so the ordinary zoning setbacks apply. Bees may be kept for personal use only.

Hive limit: No number in the section. The controls are the permit, the twenty day neighbour notification and the accessory structure rules rather than a colony count.

Note: The permit is the whole of this ordinance, and the notification requirement is what gives it weight. You may not keep honey bees at all without a use permit issued by the City Manager, subject to a fee set by council resolution, and every neighbour within two hundred feet of the proposed location must be notified at least twenty days before the permit is issued. There is no hearing written into the section, but twenty days of notice to everyone within two hundred feet does much the same work, so treat this as a process to prepare for rather than a form to file. A permit can be suspended or revoked if you do not comply, and you have fifteen days to appeal, again with a fee. Siting is specific. Hives go in side or rear yards only and must sit behind solid screening or fencing at least six feet high. Beekeeping counts as an accessory use in every zone and beehives count as accessory structures, which means the ordinary zoning, building and setback requirements for accessory structures apply to your hives on top of everything in this chapter, so check those before choosing a spot. Provide adequate water so that bees do not go looking in neighbouring pools, birdbaths or ponds. You have a positive duty to manage the bees so as to prevent swarming and aggressive behaviour, which in practice means requeening a hot colony rather than waiting. Keeping bees is for personal use only and commercial beekeeping is prohibited. Finally, note that anyone keeping bees must allow city administrative enforcement officers onto the premises to check compliance.

• Obtain a use permit from the City Manager before keeping any honey bees. A fee is set by resolution of the City Council. § 6.12.010(B)
• All neighbours within two hundred feet of the proposed location must be notified at least twenty days before a permit is issued. § 6.12.010(B)
• A permit may be suspended or revoked for non-compliance. An appeal must be brought within fifteen days of issuance, subject to a fee. § 6.12.010(B)
• Keep hives in side or rear yards only, behind solid screening or fencing at least six feet in height. § 6.12.010(C)
• Beekeeping is an accessory use in all zones and beehives are accessory structures, so the zoning, building and setback requirements for accessory structures apply to them. § 6.12.010(C)
• Provide adequate water for the bees to stop them seeking it in neighbouring pools, birdbaths, ponds or other water. § 6.12.010(D)
• You have a duty to maintain the bees so as to prevent swarming and aggressive behaviour. § 6.12.010(E)
• Bees may be kept for personal use only. Keeping honey bees for commercial purposes is prohibited. § 6.12.010(G)
• Anyone keeping bees must allow city administrative enforcement officers to enter the premises to ensure compliance. § 6.12.010(F)

Keeping a hive of bees is unlawful except under a permit issued under the chapter. A violation is an infraction.

Hive limit: No hive count is set. The permit is the gate.

Note: Gonzales makes keeping a hive unlawful unless you hold a permit under the chapter, so the permit is not optional paperwork, it is what makes the keeping lawful. Applications go to the chief animal control officer rather than to planning, and the officer has to be satisfied after investigation that your bees will not endanger anyone, will not become a public nuisance, and will not conflict with any other city ordinance including zoning. Start that conversation before buying equipment. Neighbouring Greenfield uses the same chapter almost word for word.

• It is unlawful to keep or maintain within the city, or permit to be kept on land under your control, a hive of bees, except as specifically permitted under the provisions of the chapter. A violation is an infraction. 7.12.040
• A permit to keep livestock, domestic fowl, wild animals or bees may be obtained from the chief animal control officer, who must find after investigation that the keeping would not endanger persons or property, would not create a public nuisance, and would not be contrary to state law or any other city ordinance including the zoning ordinance. 7.12.050

Keeping a hive of bees is unlawful except under a permit from the chief animal control officer. A violation is an infraction.

Hive limit: No hive count is set. The permit is the gate.

Note: Greenfield makes keeping a hive unlawful unless you hold a permit under the chapter. The application goes to the chief animal control officer, who must be satisfied after investigation that the bees will not endanger persons or property, will not become a public nuisance, and will not conflict with any other city ordinance, expressly including zoning. Because zoning is written into the test, check which district your parcel is in before you apply. Neighbouring Gonzales uses the same chapter.

• It is unlawful to keep or maintain within the city, or permit to be kept on land under your control, a hive of bees, except as specifically permitted under the provisions of the chapter. A violation is an infraction. 6.12.040
• A person may keep livestock, domestic fowl, wild animals or bees on obtaining a permit from the chief animal control officer, who must find after investigation that the keeping would not endanger persons or property, would not create a public nuisance under § 6.12.010, and would not be contrary to state law or any other city ordinance, specifically including the city zoning ordinance. 6.12.050

No local beekeeping rule found in the municipal code. State registration with the county agricultural commissioner still applies.

Note: Searched against the live code in 2026 with no result, so this card no longer reads as unknown. Three caveats are worth carrying, each learned from a real California code this year. A code can regulate bees without naming them, by folding beekeeping into a defined use class such as "agriculture" or "animal husbandry" and then regulating that class in a zoning table. Vocabulary can hide a rule outright, "bee culture" being the most obscure term found so far. And obligations can sit outside the animals and zoning titles entirely, including apiary provisions in wildland-urban interface fire codes. Check Monterey County’s own card as well as this one, since county and city rules differ and the county’s may be the one that binds you. California still requires apiary registration with the county agricultural commissioner.

No beekeeping prohibition found. A 2026 read of the code turned up no ban — only a definition of "wild animal" which expressly EXCLUDES bees, so the wild-animal restrictions do not reach them.

Hive limit: None found in the code.

Note: A 2020 review recorded beekeeping as PROHIBITED in Marina. Reading the current code in August 2026 found no such prohibition, so that claim has been withdrawn. The only bee reference located is the definition of "wild animal", which expressly excludes bees — the opposite of a ban. This is not the same as saying beekeeping is unrestricted: it means no prohibition was found. California still requires apiary registration with the county agricultural commissioner (BeeWhere).

• "Wild animal" means any animal feral in nature … it excludes any animal which has been brought into, or born in, restraint or captivity upon any farm or ranch for the purpose of cultivating or pelting its fur; bees, birds, frogs, fish, and any other animal kept for human consumption. Marina Municipal Code, "Wild animal" definition (Ord. 2020-07 § 2, 2020)

Beekeeping is not prohibited. The city once had a section headed Keeping of bees prohibited and repealed it, leaving the heading and the word Repealed. Nothing was enacted in its place, so as of this reading there is no beekeeping provision at all.

Hive limit: No hive count, setback or permit. The only provision that ever addressed bees has been repealed.

Note: Monterey does not prohibit beekeeping, and the history is worth knowing because a search of the code can easily suggest otherwise. The city used to have a section headed Keeping of bees prohibited. That section was repealed, and what remains under the heading is the single word Repealed. So the words keeping of bees prohibited are still sitting in the code where a search will find them, and they impose nothing at all. If anyone quotes that heading at you, ask them to read the section underneath it. What the repeal did not do is put anything in its place. As things stand today Monterey has no beekeeping rules of any kind: no hive limit, no setback, no permit and no registration with the city. Treat that as the current position rather than a considered decision to allow beekeeping without conditions, so site your hives sensibly and talk to your neighbours before you put them in. Check the Monterey County card as well as this one, since the county rules are separate and may be the ones that bind you, and note that California still requires apiary registration with the county agricultural commissioner whatever the city does.

• The section formerly headed "Keeping of bees prohibited" has been repealed. Its entire remaining text is the word "Repealed", so it imposes nothing. 6-7

Bees and bee swarms in boxes or hives may only be kept under a permit. No hive count or setback is set.

Hive limit: No hive count or setback is attached to the permit in the code.

Note: Pacific Grove requires a permit to keep bees, listing bees and bee swarms in boxes or hives among the animals that may not be kept without one. The code attaches no hive count and no setback to that permit, which means the conditions are set case by case rather than read off the page. Ask the city what it asks for on a bee permit before you plan anything, and register with the Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner as state law requires.

• Bees and bee swarms in boxes or hives are listed among the animals that require a permit to keep, alongside chickens and animals used for educational or scientific purposes. 10.08.030

The code defines apiaries but sets no standards for keeping them.

No local beekeeping rule found in the municipal code. State registration with the county agricultural commissioner still applies.

Note: Searched against the live code in 2026 with no result, so this card no longer reads as unknown. Three caveats are worth carrying, each learned from a real California code this year. A code can regulate bees without naming them, by folding beekeeping into a defined use class such as "agriculture" or "animal husbandry" and then regulating that class in a zoning table. Vocabulary can hide a rule outright, "bee culture" being the most obscure term found so far. And obligations can sit outside the animals and zoning titles entirely, including apiary provisions in wildland-urban interface fire codes. Check Monterey County’s own card as well as this one, since county and city rules differ and the county’s may be the one that binds you. California still requires apiary registration with the county agricultural commissioner.

Three beehives per site, expressly not treated as structures, sited so beekeeping does not adversely affect neighbouring properties.

Hive limit: No more than three beehives on any site.

Note: Seaside allows three hives per site and says something in your favour that almost no other California code does: beehives are not treated as structures or accessory structures, so the setback and permit rules that apply to sheds and outbuildings do not catch them. Keep the hives in sound condition and site them so the beekeeping does not affect the neighbours. One provision to be aware of is the nuisance test, which includes bees interfering with neighbouring properties through detrimental impacts on property values. That is a standard nobody can really measure, so in practice good relations with the people next door are your best protection.

• No more than three beehives may be maintained on any site. Beehives are not considered structures or accessory structures. They must be kept in sound usable condition at all times and placed so that beekeeping activities do not adversely impact neighbouring properties. Zoning, beekeeping standards
• Honeybees or beehives are a public nuisance where honeybees exhibit unprovoked defensive behaviour against humans or animals, where they interfere with the normal use of neighbouring properties including detrimental impacts to property values or human health or safety, or where hives become abandoned. 6.04.165

Permit required.