Santa Clara County Beekeeping Regulations

An apiary with 1-3 colonies may be placed as close to 25 feet to a roadway and/or property line if an effect flight dispersing barrier is in place. Apiaries with 20+ colonies must be 300 feet from all property lines.

Hive limit: No numeric cap in the code; colony count changes the required setback instead.

Note: This setback is TIERED by colony count (County Code B29-12): 1–3 colonies, 100 ft from property lines and public roadways — or 25 ft with an effective flight-dispersing barrier; 4–20 colonies, 100 ft; more than 20 colonies, 300 ft from property lines and 100 ft from roadways.

• A device such as a fence, hedge, or wall, which is constructed at a minimum height of six feet from the ground and serves to prevent the apiary from constituting a nuisance to nearby residents or the public. Sec. B29-10.
• Every person maintaining an apiary shall maintain an adequate and accessible supply of fresh water available at all times, including at a reasonable time prior to introducing new colonies. Sec. B29-13.
• Every person maintaining any apiary on premises other than that of his or her residence shall identify such apiary by affixing and maintaining a sign thereto showing the name of the owner or person in possession of the apiary, his or her address and telephone number, or a statement that he or she has no phone. Sec. B29-14.

The distances are large and every one of them can be waived in writing by the person it protects. No apiary within one thousand feet of the nearest residence, church, school, public building or corral unless that owner or occupier gives written permission, and no apiary within three hundred feet of a public road. The code sets no hive limit. Written notice to the City Manager is required within five days of moving an apiary in.

Note: Read the exception at the end of § 7.28.030(a) before you conclude anything from the numbers. On its face the chapter puts a thousand feet between an apiary and the nearest residence, church, school, public building or corral, and Campbell is under two square miles of dense suburb, so on that reading there is nowhere in the city to keep bees. The section then says "unless the owner or persons in possession thereof have given written permission to the location of such apiary at a closer distance". So Campbell is really a consent regime: get it in writing from the neighbours you are close to, and keep the letters. The three hundred feet from a public road carries no such exception. There is no hive limit and no city registration, but there is a notice duty that is easy to miss. Within five days of starting to move an apiary into the city, or from one address to another inside it, you must tell the City Manager in writing how many colonies, where they are going, who owns or occupies that property, and how far the apiary sits from the nearest public road intersection. Two things the older summaries got wrong are worth stating plainly. The identification signs at § 7.28.050 are required only for an apiary on premises other than your own residence, so a home beekeeper does not need one. And § 7.28.040 says a water supply should be provided rather than shall, which makes it advice in the code's own wording, though you should provide water anyway because bees will otherwise find your neighbour's pool. Finally, this chapter permits nothing on its own: § 7.28.060 says it does not authorise bees anywhere the zoning code or other law does not already allow them, and California still requires apiary registration with the Santa Clara County agricultural commissioner whatever the city does.

• Give the City Manager written notice within five days of starting to move an apiary into the city, or from one place to another inside it. State how many colonies, the address they are going to, the name and address of the owner or occupier of that property, and the distance from the proposed location to the nearest public road intersection. § 7.28.010
• Keep the apiary at least one thousand feet from the nearest residence, church, school, public building, corral or water area in the corral, unless the owner or occupier of that place has given you written permission to be closer. § 7.28.030(a)
• Do not place an apiary on any land without the written consent of its owner or occupier. § 7.28.030(b)
• Keep the apiary at least three hundred feet from any public road. This distance has no written-permission exception. § 7.28.030(c)
• Provide and maintain a water supply adequate in quantity for the apiary. The code words this as should rather than shall. § 7.28.040
• If the apiary is on premises other than your own residence, post signs on each entrance side showing the name, address and telephone number of the owner or person in possession, or a statement that they have no phone. Letters must be black on a white or light background and at least one inch high. An apiary at your own home needs no sign. § 7.28.050
• Tell the City Manager immediately if bees establish a natural hive on your property, so it can be removed by approved methods without harm to people or property. § 7.28.020
• A violation notice may be given verbally or in writing and is also posted at the site for forty eight hours. Failing to correct the violation within that time is itself unlawful. § 7.28.060
• This chapter does not authorise bees anywhere the zoning code or other law does not already allow them. § 7.28.060

Urban apiaries are permitted as an accessory use in all zoning districts; agricultural apiaries are a principal use under Ch. 19.20.

Hive limit: Two hives on parcels under 5,000 sq ft. The chapter sets no numeric limit for larger parcels.

• Urban apiaries are allowed in all zoning districts as an accessory use. Minimum setbacks are 20 feet from the front property line or any public or private street, and 8 feet from side or rear property lines and driveway easements, unless adjacent owners give written permission to site hives closer. 8.07.030(1)
• All apiaries must be registered with the Santa Clara County Agricultural Commissioner as required by Division 13 of the California Food and Agricultural Code, commencing at Section 29000. 8.07.030(4)
• A constant supply of fresh water should be maintained, and abandoned or disused apiaries shall be promptly dismantled and removed. 8.07.030(3)
• A violation is subject to administrative fines and is also a misdemeanor. 8.07.050

Bees are prohibited in Gilroy except in agricultural zones, where apiaries fall within the definition of agriculture.

Hive limit: None outside agricultural zones, where bees are not permitted at all.

Note: Gilroy allows bees only in its agricultural zones. Everywhere else they are prohibited by the same section that bars swine, roosters and ostriches, which tells you how the ordinance thinks about them. The exception is genuine rather than nominal, because the city’s definition of agriculture expressly includes apiaries, so if your parcel carries an agricultural designation beekeeping is an agricultural use there. The first thing to establish is your zoning district, since nothing else in the code will help if the answer is residential.

• Swine, bees, chickens, roosters, peafowl, ostriches and other Ratitae, and livestock are prohibited except in agricultural zones. 4.20
• "Agriculture" means farming, dairying, pasturage, apiaries, horticulture, floriculture, viticulture and animal or poultry husbandry, excluding the commercial feeding of garbage or offal to swine or other animals. Zoning definitions

Permitted in the R1 district.

Hive limit: A maximum of one honey bee hive shall be allowed for each five thousand (5,000) square feet of lot area; provided, however, neighbors and passersby shall be protected from flyways, and a water supply adequate in quantity shall be provided and maintained on the site. 7.

• A maximum of one honey bee hive shall be allowed for each five thousand (5,000) square feet of lot area; provided, however, neighbors and passersby shall be protected from flyways, and a water supply adequate in quantity shall be provided and maintained on the site. 7. 5.10.010

No apiary within 1,000 feet of a residence, church, school, public building or swimming pool without written permission, nor within 300 feet of any public road.

Hive limit: No hive count is set. The 1,000 ft separation is what governs.

Note: Los Altos Hills has the largest separation we have found anywhere in California: 1,000 feet from the nearest residence, church, school, public building or swimming pool. Read the rest of the clause before giving up, because it can be waived by written permission from whoever occupies the building in question, and on the larger parcels typical of the town that is often achievable. You also need 300 feet from any public road and the landowner’s written consent if the land is not yours. If you move bees into or around the town, § 6-1.805 requires written notice to the City Manager within five days, which is easy to miss. And in a hazardous fire area you need the fire chief’s written permit before lighting a smoker.

• No apiary may be located less than 1,000 feet from the nearest residence, church, school, public building, swimming pool, corral or water area in a corral, unless the owner or person in possession gives written permission for a closer location. 6-1.806(a)
• No apiary may be placed on any land without the written consent of the owner or person in possession, nor closer than 300 feet from any public road. 6-1.806(b)-(c)
• No apiary may be moved into or within the town without written notice to the City Manager within five days of the date movement begins, stating the number of colonies, the location and its owner, and the distance from the nearest public road intersection. 6-1.805
• "Apiary" means bees, hives and appliances wherever kept, located or found. "Bees" means honey-producing insects of the species Apis mellifera at any life stage, together with materials deposited into hives, except honey and rendered beeswax. "Location" means any premises upon which an apiary is located. 6-1.801
• No person shall use any lighted or smouldering material in connection with the smoking of bees in or upon any hazardous fire area except under a written permit from the fire chief. 4-2.111

Rear yard only, six feet from a side property line and ten feet from a rear line, both waivable by written consent of the adjoining owner or resident, and twenty five feet from a public road. Two hives on a lot between five and ten thousand square feet, three up to forty thousand, four above that plus one more for each half acre over an acre. A flight dispersing barrier is required under ten thousand square feet.

Hive limit: Tiered by lot area at § 4.80.027: two hives between five and ten thousand square feet, three between ten and forty thousand, four above forty thousand, and one additional hive for each half acre over one acre. On multi-family property no hives at all without the consent of the owner and every tenant in possession.

Note: This is the most carefully written beekeeping ordinance in the dataset and it is worth reading properly rather than skimming the numbers. Hives go in the rear yard, at least six feet from a side property line and ten feet from a rear line, and both of those distances can be waived by written consent of the adjoining owner or resident. A side setback is possible with written consent from the adjacent owner or from the Director of Community Development. Keep twenty five feet from any public road. If any part of the apiary sits within twenty feet of a property line you either need a flight dispersing barrier or the entrance must not face that line, and that twenty feet is a trigger rather than a setback, which is a distinction earlier summaries got wrong. How many hives depends on your lot. Two between five and ten thousand square feet, three between ten and forty thousand, four above forty thousand, and one more for every half acre over an acre. Under ten thousand square feet a flight dispersing barrier is mandatory, and between ten and forty thousand it may be required. The barrier is defined for you: a wall, fence or dense vegetation that bees cannot readily fly through, surrounding the hives but leaving you room to work them, and an existing property line fence counts if it is close enough to push the flight path up and away. Water is part of the definition of an apiary here, so it is not optional in practice. It must be within a hundred feet, must not be a pool, hot tub or spa, must give the bees landing sites so they do not drown or crowd, and letting it go stagnant or become a mosquito breeding site is unlawful. Notice of moving an apiary in goes to the Santa Clara County Agricultural Commissioner within thirty days, not to the town. Identification signs are needed only where the apiary is not at your own home. Two provisions are unusual and both are in your favour. The town defines undesirable honey bee behaviour, so a nuisance complaint has to point at something specific: Africanized characteristics, unusually aggressive defensive stinging without provocation, or an unusual disposition toward swarming. And § 4.80.055 makes it a misdemeanour for anyone to kill or poison an apiary that is not theirs, without preventing a civil claim on top.

• Keep hives in the rear yard, at least six feet from a side property line and ten feet from a rear property line. Both distances can be waived by written consent of the adjoining property owner or resident. § 4.80.030(a), (b)
• Hives may not sit in a required front or side setback. A side setback is possible with written consent from the adjacent owner or resident, or from the Director of Community Development. § 4.80.030(a)
• Keep the apiary at least twenty five feet from any public road. § 4.80.030(e)
• If the apiary is within twenty feet of a property line, either a flight dispersing barrier is required or the entrance must not face that line. § 4.80.030(c)
• Two hives on a lot between five thousand and ten thousand square feet, three between ten thousand and forty thousand, four above forty thousand, and one additional hive for each half acre over one acre. § 4.80.027(a) to (c)
• Under ten thousand square feet a flight dispersing barrier is required. Between ten and forty thousand it may be required. The barrier is a wall, fence or dense vegetation bees cannot readily fly through, surrounding the hives while leaving room to work them. §§ 4.80.027(d), 4.80.012
• No hives on multi-family property without the consent of the owner and all tenants in possession. § 4.80.027(e)
• Give written notice to the Santa Clara County Agricultural Commissioner within thirty days of moving an apiary into or within the town, stating the number of colonies, the address and its owner or occupier, and the distance from the nearest public road intersection. § 4.80.025
• Provide water within one hundred feet of the hives, and not a pool, hot tub or spa. It must offer landing sites so bees can drink without drowning, undue competition or overcrowding, and it is unlawful to let it become stagnant or a mosquito breeding site. §§ 4.80.005, 4.80.035
• An apiary on premises other than your own residence must carry signs on each entrance side with the name and current contact details of the person in possession, in black letters at least one inch high on a white or light background. § 4.80.040
• No apiary may exhibit undesirable honey bee behaviour, which the code defines as Africanized characteristics, unusually aggressive defensive behaviour such as stinging without provocation, or an unusual disposition toward swarming. Nor may it carry apiary pests or otherwise be a health and safety hazard. §§ 4.80.022, 4.80.043
• It is a misdemeanour for anyone to kill an apiary they do not own, or to knowingly poison a hive, and that is on top of any Penal Code charge or civil claim by the apiary owner. § 4.80.055
• On notice of a violation, verbal or written, a written notice is also posted at the site for forty eight hours and it is unlawful not to correct the violation within that time. The article does not authorise bees where other law does not allow them. § 4.80.045

No beekeeping provisions found in this code by a 2026 search.

Note: A 2026 search of this jurisdiction's full Municode code found no match for any beekeeping term (bees, beekeeping, apiary, apiculture, hive and related words). That is a search of the published code, not a lawyer's reading: a rule could still exist if it avoids all of those words, sits in a separate code not published here, or was adopted after the search. Confirm at the source before relying on it.

Rear yard only, six feet from a side property line and ten feet from a rear line, with entrances facing a house or building on your own premises. The hive count is set by zoning district rather than lot size: two in R1-8, four in R1-20 and six in R1-44. Hives may be no more than six feet tall, and no commercial use of the hives or their products is allowed.

Hive limit: By zoning district at § 6.06.040(B): six in R1-44, four in R1-20 and two in R1-8. Check which district your parcel is in before counting on a number, because the difference between the top and bottom tier is threefold.

Note: Find your zoning district first, because in Monte Sereno that is what sets the hive count and nothing else does. Six hives in R1-44, four in R1-20 and two in R1-8. Earlier summaries described this as depending on lot size and gave a range starting at four, which would leave someone in R1-8 with twice what they are allowed. Siting is straightforward. Hives go in the rear yard of a residential property, at least six feet from the side yard property line and ten feet from the rear yard line, and every hive must be oriented so its entrance faces a house or building on the premises. Two rules that are easy to miss because they are short. No hive or apiary may be more than six feet tall, which rules out tall stacks late in a good season and is worth planning supers around. And no apiary, hive or product from one located in Monte Sereno may be used for commercial purposes, so selling honey from a city hive is outside what the chapter allows. The chapter also requires compliance with all local, state and federal law, and California requires apiary registration with the Santa Clara County agricultural commissioner.

• Keep hives in the rear yard of a residential property, at least six feet from the side yard property line and at least ten feet from the rear yard property line. § 6.06.040(A)
• Orient every hive so its entrance faces a house or building on the premises. § 6.06.040(A)
• Six hives in the R1-44 district, four in R1-20 and two in R1-8. § 6.06.040(B)
• No hive or apiary may be taller than six feet. § 6.06.040(C)
• No apiary, hive or product from one located in Monte Sereno may be used for commercial purposes. § 6.06.040(D)
• A fresh water source is part of the definition of a hive: on the same property, no more than one hundred feet away, and not a pool, hot tub or spa. § 6.06.030
• Comply with all local, state and federal law. Violations are dealt with under Title 5 of the municipal code. §§ 6.06.040(E), 6.06.050

Registration with the Santa Clara County Agricultural Commissioner is mandatory and an unregistered apiary is unlawful. One hive on a lot between five and ten thousand square feet and two above ten thousand, rising to two and three with unanimous written consent from adjacent owners. Ten feet from the side property line and twenty five feet from the rear. Written permission is needed from any church, school, public building, dairy or corral within a thousand feet.

Hive limit: One hive on a lot between five and ten thousand square feet, two above ten thousand. With unanimous written consent from the adjacent property owners those become two and three respectively.

Note: Two things decide whether beekeeping works at your address in Morgan Hill, and the hive count is not one of them. First, the thousand foot rule. Before placing an apiary you must get written permission from any church, school, public building, dairy or corral within a thousand foot radius. Work that out on a map before you buy bees, because in a town this size it will often catch something. Second, registration. A hobbyist beekeeper on single family residential property must register the apiary with the Santa Clara County Agricultural Commissioner, giving the number of colonies, the location and the owner's first and last name, and it is expressly unlawful to keep an unregistered apiary here. Renew within thirty days after 1 January each year. The numbers themselves are modest. One hive on a lot between five and ten thousand square feet and two above ten thousand, and if you get unanimous written consent from your adjacent property owners those rise to two and three. Hives go in a side yard or back yard, must be easily accessible to county inspectors, and must sit at least twenty five feet from the rear property line and ten feet from the side line of the property the apiary is registered on. Face every entrance towards a dwelling or building on that property, or surround the hives with a solid perimeter fence at least six feet high. Water must be within three feet of the hives, which is the tightest water requirement in this dataset and is there to stop bees foraging where they are not wanted. Any hive taller than six feet must be anchored with ratchet straps against wind and earthquake. And every hive needs the owner's name, phone number and address and the apiary registration number displayed in dark letters in front of the entrance.

• Register the apiary with the Santa Clara County Agricultural Commissioner, stating the number of colonies, the location and the owner's first and last name. Keeping an unregistered apiary is unlawful. § 6.36.275(A), (B)
• Renew the registration within thirty days after 1 January each year. § 6.36.275(J)
• One hive on a lot between five thousand and ten thousand square feet, two on a lot over ten thousand. With unanimous written consent from the adjacent property owners, two and three respectively. § 6.36.275(C)
• Before placing an apiary within a thousand foot radius of a church, school, public building, dairy or corral, obtain written permission from that entity. § 6.36.275(D)
• Keep hives at least twenty five feet from the rear property line and at least ten feet from the side yard property line. § 6.36.275(G)
• Hives must be in a side yard or back yard and easily accessible by county inspectors. § 6.36.275(F)
• Face every hive entrance towards a dwelling or building on the property, or surround the hives with a solid perimeter fence at least six feet high. § 6.36.275(I)
• Provide an adequate water supply within three feet of the hives, to stop bees foraging in undesirable areas. § 6.36.275(E)
• Anchor any hive taller than six feet with ratchet straps against toppling in wind and earthquake. § 6.36.275(H)
• Display the owner's name, phone number and address and the apiary registration number in dark letters in front of each hive entrance. § 6.36.275(K)

Ten feet from the property line, in side and rear yards only, unless the adjacent owner or occupier gives written permission to be closer. Twenty feet from any public road. Written notice to the administrator within five days of moving an apiary in. The article sets no hive count.

Hive limit: None. Mountain View controls apiaries by distance and notice rather than by number.

Note: Mountain View runs a short, old-fashioned article and the practical points are the notice and the waiver. Within five days of starting to move an apiary into the city, or from one address to another inside it, tell the administrator in writing how many colonies, where they are going, who owns or occupies that property, and how far the apiary will be from the nearest public road intersection. Hives go in side and rear yards only, at least ten feet from the property line, and that ten feet falls away if the owner or occupier of the adjacent property gives written permission for something closer, which is worth asking for rather than assuming. Keep twenty feet from any public road, and get the written consent of the landowner if the apiary is not on your own land. There is no hive limit. The water provision says a supply should be provided and maintained rather than shall, so in the code's own wording it is advice, though you should provide water anyway. Identification signs are needed only for an apiary on premises other than your own residence. If bees establish a natural hive on your property you must tell the administrator immediately so it can be removed by approved methods. A violation notice can be verbal or written and is also posted at the site for forty eight hours, and failing to fix it in that time is itself unlawful. Finally, the article permits nothing on its own: it does not authorise bees anywhere the zoning code or other law does not already allow them, and California still requires apiary registration with the Santa Clara County agricultural commissioner.

• Give the administrator written notice within five days of starting to move an apiary into the city or from one place to another inside it, stating the number of colonies, the address and its owner or occupier, and the distance to the nearest public road intersection. § 5.44
• Keep the apiary at least ten feet from the property line and in side and rear yards only, unless the owner or occupier of the adjacent property gives written permission to be closer. § 5.46(a)
• Keep the apiary at least twenty feet from any public road. § 5.46(c)
• Do not place an apiary on any land without the written consent of its owner or occupier. § 5.46(b)
• Provide and maintain a water supply adequate in quantity for the apiary. The code words this as should rather than shall. § 5.47
• An apiary on premises other than your own residence needs signs on each entrance side with the name, address and telephone number of the person in possession, or a statement that they have no phone, in black letters at least one inch high on a white or light background. § 5.48
• Tell the administrator immediately if bees establish a natural hive on your property, so it can be removed by approved methods. § 5.45
• A violation notice may be verbal or written and is also posted at the site for forty eight hours. Failing to correct the violation within that time is itself unlawful. The article does not authorise bees where other law does not allow them. § 5.49

Setbacks apply when bees are kept in any area other than zoned agricultural or open space. Written permission from all adjacent neighbors required.

A permit is required before you keep any hive, and the permit conditions are where the actual rules live. Two hives per lot or parcel, ten feet from any side property line and fifty feet from anyone else's dwelling, hives registered with the Santa Clara County Agriculture Commission, entrances facing a building on your own property from behind a six foot solid fence, and a constant water supply. The permit runs twelve months and cannot be transferred.

Hive limit: Two hives per lot or parcel, set as a condition of the beekeeping permit at § 7.60.570(A). Parcels zoned open space, agricultural, industrial, manufacturing or PD need no permit and the code sets no hive count for them.

Note: Do not read the permit section on its own, because it tells you almost nothing. The rules that decide whether your garden works are in § 7.60.570. You may keep two hives per lot. Hives must sit at least ten feet from any side property line and at least fifty feet from any dwelling other than the one you live in, and never inside a required front or side setback. Entrances must face a house or building on your own property, and the hives must stand behind a solid fence at least six feet high that is no more than thirty feet away, open only on the side facing that building. If a fence does not suit your garden, you can instead put the hives on a building or structure so their entrances are more than ten feet above the ground and still face a building on the property. Keep water available on the premises at all times. Register your name, address and every hive location with the Santa Clara County Agriculture Commission. If fifty feet from a neighbouring dwelling is impossible where you live, § 7.60.590 lets written consent from the residents of the adjoining properties remove that distance, and it is worth asking, but they can withdraw it later on thirty days' notice. Two separate points are easy to miss. Different land, different rules: on parcels zoned open space, agricultural, industrial, manufacturing or PD you need no permit at all, but hives must then be more than one hundred and fifty feet from any dwelling other than your own and at least one hundred feet from any public street or public access, and the registration, setback and water requirements still apply. And if a permit is denied or revoked you have ten business days to remove every hive and six months before you can apply again for the same place.

• Get a beekeeping permit before you keep or maintain any hive. Apply in writing to the administrator on the city's form, signed by the owner or a lawful tenant of the parcel. Fees are set by council resolution and no application counts as complete until they are paid. §§ 7.60.510, 7.60.540, 7.60.550
• The permit lasts twelve months from the date it is issued. It cannot be sold, assigned or transferred, and it covers only the premises named on it and the person it was issued to. §§ 7.60.530(C), 7.60.560
• Keep no more than two hives on any lot or parcel. § 7.60.570(A)
• Register your name, address and the location of every hive with the office of the Santa Clara County Agriculture Commission. § 7.60.570(B)
• Keep every hive at least ten feet from any side property line, and at least fifty feet from any dwelling unit other than the one you occupy. § 7.60.570(C)
• Keep hives out of any required front or side setback. § 7.60.570(D)
• Face every hive entrance towards a house or building on your own premises, and surround the hives with a solid fence at least six feet high standing no further than thirty feet from them. The fence may be open on the side facing that building. Alternatively, mount the hives on a building or structure so their entrances are more than ten feet above the ground and face a building on the premises. § 7.60.570(E)
• Maintain a constant water supply on the premises, adequate for every hive kept there. § 7.60.570(F)
• Written consent from the residents of the adjoining properties removes the fifty foot dwelling distance. Consent can be withdrawn by the person who gave it, or by whoever lives there next, on thirty days' written notice. § 7.60.590
• A wild swarm that settles on your property outside a hive may not be kept or allowed to remain. §§ 7.60.500, 7.10.220
• If your permit is denied or revoked you must remove every hive within ten business days, and you cannot apply again for the same activity at the same address for six months unless the grounds for the refusal are gone. §§ 7.60.610, 7.60.640

Two hives per lot, more only with the City Manager's written consent. Hives must be ten feet from any side property line, twenty feet from other people's dwellings and twenty feet from a public road, with entrances facing a building on your own property behind a six foot solid fence. Colonies must be registered with the county.

Hive limit: Two hives per lot or parcel. The City Manager may consent in writing to a higher number, at their sole discretion.

Note: Santa Clara has a proper beekeeping chapter and it is workable for a suburban garden. You may keep two hives per lot, and if you want more you ask the City Manager, who may consent in writing. Register your name, address and hive locations with the Santa Clara County Agriculture Commission. The distances are modest and achievable: ten feet from any side property line, twenty feet from anyone else's dwelling and twenty feet from a public road, and hives may not sit in a required front or side setback. If those distances are awkward, note that the ten and twenty foot rules can both be relaxed if your neighbour gives you written permission, so it is worth asking. The siting rule is unusual and worth understanding because it is the opposite of what most codes do. Instead of pointing the hive entrance away from the neighbour, Santa Clara points it at your own house: entrances must face a house or building on your own premises, and the six foot solid fence that has to surround the hives may only be left open on that side. The effect is that the bees fly into your property rather than across the boundary. If a fence does not suit, you can raise the hives instead, either mounted more than ten feet up facing a building on your land, or on a rooftop from the second storey up, five feet in from the edge and fifteen feet from the next building along. Keep a constant water supply on the property. If your hives are somewhere you do not live, you also need a sign on each entrance side with your name, address and phone number. One important limit: the animals chapter says in terms that it does not authorise keeping bees where they are not otherwise allowed by law, so check your zoning as well. Our earlier card said Santa Clara had no beekeeping rules at all, which came from searching the wrong publisher's code.

• No more than two hives may be maintained on any lot or parcel unless the City Manager, in their sole discretion, consents in writing to a higher amount. No hive may be kept on land without the written consent of the owner or person in possession. 6.28.030(a)-(b)
• The owner's name and address and the location of all hives must be registered with the office of the Santa Clara County Agriculture Commission. 6.28.030(c)
• No hive may be within ten feet of any side property line, within twenty feet of any dwelling unit other than the beekeeper's, or closer than twenty feet to any public road. The ten and twenty foot separations may be reduced where the owner or occupier of the adjacent property gives written permission. Hives may not be in any required front or side setback. 6.28.030(d)-(f)
• A constant water supply adequate to the needs of all hives on the premises must be maintained on those premises. 6.28.030(g)
• Hive entrances must face a house or building on the premises, and the hives must be surrounded by a solid fence at least six feet high located no more than thirty feet from them. The fence may be open on the side facing that house or building. Alternatively hives may be on or affixed to a building with entrances more than ten feet above the ground facing a building on the premises, or on a rooftop of a second or higher storey more than five feet from the nearest side of the building and at least fifteen feet from the nearest adjacent building. 6.28.030(h)
• An apiary on premises other than the keeper's own residence must carry signs on each entrance side giving the name, address and telephone number of the owner or person in possession, or a statement that they have no phone, lettered in black at least one inch high on a white or light background. 6.28.040
• No apiary may be moved into or within the city without written notice to the City Manager within five days of the move beginning, stating the number of colonies, the destination property and its owner, and the distance from the nearest public road intersection. 6.28.010
• Property owners and occupants must give immediate notice to the City Manager when bees establish a natural hive, so it can be removed by approved methods and without harm to persons or property. 6.28.020
• Notice of a violation may be given verbally or in writing by the City Manager or any law enforcement officer, and a written notice is posted at the location for 48 hours, within which the violation must be corrected. A violation is an infraction punishable by a fine up to $250, or a misdemeanour punishable by a fine up to $1,000 or up to six months in county jail, or both. 6.28.050

Apiaries are permitted only in the R-1-10,000, R-1-12,500, R-1-15,000, R-1-20,000 and R-1-40,000 zoning districts and are not permitted in any other district at all. Three hives in the first four of those, four in R-1-40,000 plus one more for each half acre over an acre. Side or rear yards only, six feet from the property lines, hives no taller than six feet.

Hive limit: Three hives in R-1-10,000, R-1-12,500, R-1-15,000 and R-1-20,000; four in R-1-40,000 with one additional hive for each half acre over one acre. In every other district the answer is none, because apiaries are not permitted there.

Note: Check your zoning district before anything else, because in Saratoga it decides whether you may keep bees at all. Apiaries are permitted in R-1-10,000, R-1-12,500, R-1-15,000, R-1-20,000 and R-1-40,000, and § 7-20.230(e) then says apiaries are not permitted in any zoning district not listed. That last sentence is a prohibition, not a silence, and it did not appear on earlier versions of this card. Within the permitted districts the rules are workable. Three hives in the four smaller districts, four in R-1-40,000, and one extra hive for each half acre you have over an acre. Hives go in a side or rear yard, no closer than six feet to a property line, and no hive or associated structure may be more than six feet tall. If the apiary is within twenty feet of a property line you need either a flyway barrier or an entrance that does not face that line. The code defines the barrier precisely: a solid fence, wall or dense vegetation, six feet high, placed four to five feet in front of the hive entrance so the bees are pushed from a low flight path to a more vertical one. Water must be provided and maintained, and here the code says shall rather than should. Take the penalty seriously. A violation of this section is a misdemeanour and a public nuisance, which is more severe than most cities attach to a hive count. California also requires apiary registration with the Santa Clara County agricultural commissioner.

• Apiaries are not permitted in any zoning district other than R-1-10,000, R-1-12,500, R-1-15,000, R-1-20,000 and R-1-40,000. § 7-20.230(e)
• Three hives per property in R-1-10,000, R-1-12,500, R-1-15,000 and R-1-20,000. Four in R-1-40,000, plus one additional hive for each half acre over one acre. § 7-20.230(e)
• Keep apiaries in side or rear yards only and no closer than six feet from the property lines. § 7-20.230(c)
• If the apiary is within twenty feet of a property line, the entrance must not face that line. § 7-20.230(c)
• If the apiary is within twenty feet of a property line, either a flyway barrier is required or the entrance must not face a property line. The barrier is a solid fence, wall or dense vegetation six feet high, four to five feet in front of the hive entrance, to lift the bees' flight path. § 7-20.230(b)(3), (f)
• Hives and any associated structures may be no more than six feet tall. § 7-20.230(d)
• Provide and maintain a water supply adequate in quantity for the apiary. Here the code says shall, not should. § 7-20.230(g)
• Comply with all local, state and federal law. A violation of this section is a misdemeanour and a public nuisance. § 7-20.230(h), (i)

Five hives per parcel, registered with the county, kept 25 feet from side and rear property lines or 100 feet from other people’s dwellings, whichever is greater.

Hive limit: Five hives per lot or parcel, with no limit for an agricultural use permitted by use permit in any zone.

Note: Sunnyvale allows five hives, which is generous by California standards, and it is refreshingly clear about the distances: 25 feet from a side or rear line, or 100 feet from someone else’s dwelling, and where those conflict the greater one governs. If that rules out your garden, the neighbours can waive it in writing, and unusually their consent is locked in for two years before it can be withdrawn on 90 days’ notice, so it is worth getting. One oddity to be aware of: the code defines a hive as a box with no more than one entrance, one brood chamber and four supers, which on a literal reading means a fifth super puts your equipment outside the definition. Nobody appears to enforce it that way, but if you run tall stacks it is worth a call to the city.

• No more than five hives may be maintained on any one lot or parcel, except for an agricultural use in any zone under a use permit. The address of all hives must be registered with the Santa Clara County Agricultural Commissioner. 6.08.010(a)
• No hive within 25 feet of any side or rear property line, or within 100 feet of any dwelling unit other than the one occupied by the beekeeper, whichever distance is greater and more restrictive. 6.08.010(b)
• No hive between the line of the front face of the main building extended and the street adjoining the front yard, unless it is at least 100 feet from the edge of the street right-of-way. 6.08.010(c)
• Hives must face the house or building occupied by the beekeeper and be surrounded by a solid fence at least six feet high within 30 feet of the hives, which may be open on the side facing that building. Alternatively hives may be placed on or affixed to a building so their entrances are more than ten feet above the ground and face a building on the premises. A constant water supply adequate for all hives must be kept on the premises. 6.08.010(d)-(e)
• Hives not complying with § 6.08.010 are a public nuisance. The setback requirements in § 6.08.010(b) do not apply if the beekeeper files with the administrator the written consent of the owners or adult occupants of the adjoining properties. That consent is irrevocable for two years, after which it may be revoked on at least 90 days’ written notice. 6.08.020
• "Hive" means any movable frame box designed and used for keeping bees or storing honey, having no more than one bee entrance, one brood chamber and four honey storage or super chambers. Bees are excluded from the definition of a wild animal when kept in conformance with Chapter 6.08. 6.01.010