Santa Cruz County Beekeeping Regulations

Beekeeping is allowed on parcels of half an acre or larger, with hives at least 25 feet from every property line and from public or private streets.

Hive limit: No hive count is set. The half-acre minimum and the 25 ft setback are what govern.

Note: Santa Cruz County is straightforward for a beekeeper with a bit of land: half an acre or more, and hives kept at least 25 feet from every property line and from any public or private street. There is no hive limit and no permit. One piece of history is worth knowing if you search the code yourself, because it explains a confusing result. The county used to have a chapter called Bees and Beehives at 7.32 and repealed it, so a search may turn up a repealed heading and nothing else. The rules did not go away, they moved into the zoning animal regulations at section 13.10.645, which is where to look. Register with the county agricultural commissioner as state law requires.

• Beekeeping is allowed on parcels one-half acre or larger. Hives must be set back a minimum of 25 feet from all property lines and from public or private streets. One column of the table applies that standard expressly to RR parcels of half an acre or larger. 13.10.645
• The former Chapter 7.32, Bees and Beehives, was repealed by Ordinance 5304. The operative standards now sit in the zoning animal regulations rather than in a standalone chapter. Ch. 7.32
• The definition of an agricultural employee, taken from Labor Code section 1140.4(b), covers the raising of livestock, bees, furbearing animals or poultry and the practices performed on a farm incident to those operations. Agricultural definitions

One beehive, on a property of at least 5,000 square feet occupied by a single-family dwelling, kept behind the primary structure, at least twenty feet from neighbouring dwellings and five feet from a property line.

Hive limit: A single hive. This is the lowest cap found in California. By contrast the same section allows four chickens on the same size lot.

Note: Capitola allows beekeeping, but only just: one hive. To have it at all your property must be at least five thousand square feet and occupied by a single-family home, which rules out flats and multi-unit buildings. If you qualify, the rules are about as easy as they come. Put the hive behind your house, keep it five feet from the property line and twenty feet from any neighbour's dwelling, and that is the whole of it. There is no permit, no registration with the city, no fence or flyway barrier and no inspection requirement in this section, which makes Capitola one of the simplest places in the state to comply with, provided you only ever want one colony. Worth knowing if you are thinking of asking the city for more: the same section of the code allows four chickens on exactly the same size lot. Whatever the reasoning behind a one-hive limit, it was not applied to poultry, and that comparison is a fair thing to raise. The general animal rules also apply to you, so keep the area clean and do not let the hive become a nuisance. California still requires apiary registration with the county agricultural commissioner even though the city does not ask for it.

• Keeping beehives is permitted only on properties occupied by a single-family dwelling, and a maximum of one beehive is permitted on properties of at least five thousand square feet. 17.96.020(D)(1)-(2)
• Beehives must be located behind the primary structure on the property, and no closer than twenty feet to dwellings on adjacent properties or five feet from a property line. 17.96.020(D)(3)
• General animal standards apply: it is a nuisance to keep any animal posing a threat to public health or safety, or to keep animals in an unsanitary manner or so as to produce obnoxious odours, and all debris, refuse and animal byproduct must be removed from the premises daily or more often as needed. 17.96.020(A)
• The prohibited animals list covers roosters, fowl other than chickens and ducks, goats, pigs other than potbelly pigs and other livestock. Bees are not on it. 17.96.020(E)

No permit, no registration and no hive limit. Keep a permanent water source at the hives, meet a ten foot setback or a six foot barrier where a hive adjoins a pavement or path, and satisfy the dispersal standard by any one of four listed methods. Consent and neighbour notice apply only on nonresidential, public and multifamily land.

Hive limit: There is no limit on the number of hives. The section regulates placement and management rather than counting colonies.

Note: Santa Cruz has the best beekeeping rules we have found anywhere in California, and if you are looking for a city that has thought this through properly, this is the one. Start with what you do not need: no permit, no registration with the city, and no limit on the number of hives. The ordinance says so in terms, and its stated purpose is to encourage beekeeping rather than merely tolerate it. It even names the safety of the honeybees themselves as one of its aims, which no other code in this collection does. What you do need is straightforward. Keep a permanent water source at the hives, natural or one you provide. If a hive sits next to a pavement, a public trail or a street with no pavement, either keep it ten feet back or put a six foot barrier between it and the path, and a hedge counts. And meet what the city calls the dispersal standard, which asks that your bees spread out rather than bunch up before they meet anyone. You can satisfy that in any one of four ways, and you only need one: point the hive entrances into your own property, or keep the boxes ten feet from the property lines, or put up a six foot fence, wall or dense planting, or raise the hives eight feet off the ground. That is the part worth noticing if you have been reading other California codes, because most of them pick one rigid number and leave you stuck if your garden does not suit it. Santa Cruz tells you the outcome it wants and lets you choose how to get there. If you are in an ordinary single-family house, that is the whole of it. The consent and notice rules only apply if you are putting hives on nonresidential land, on public land, or on a multifamily property. In those cases you need the owner's written consent first, and you must give neighbours ten days written notice beforehand, within fifty feet for nonresidential and a hundred and fifty feet on multifamily land, with your name, phone and email in the notice. You also stencil your name and phone number on the outside of the box. In townhouse and community housing developments, keep hives ten feet clear of anyone's balcony, private yard or shared open space unless it is yours. One correction we owe you: our earlier card said Santa Cruz required an administrative use permit, capped you at two hives, and demanded a twenty foot setback. All three were wrong, and the code says close to the opposite.

• The installation and maintenance of apiaries does not require a permit or registration with the city. 24.12.650(3)(a)
• Apiaries must have a constant, permanent source of water on site with the hives. This may be a natural body of water or an artificial source provided by the responsible beekeeper. 24.12.650(3)(b)
• Apiaries must be placed and maintained so as to encourage bees to disperse rather than concentrate before potentially encountering neighbours or the public. This may be met by any one of four methods: orienting hive entrances to face the interior of the property; placing hive boxes at least ten feet from property lines; placing hives behind a non-penetrable barrier at least six feet high, which may be a fence, wall, building or dense vegetation; or placing hives at least eight feet above the ground. 24.12.650(3)(g)
• Where a hive is next to a pedestrian right of way, including a pavement, public trail or a street with no pavement, it must either be set back at least ten feet or sit behind a non-penetrable barrier at least six feet high. Fences, walls and vegetation used for this must also comply with § 24.12.160, and accessory buildings with § 24.12.140. 24.12.650(3)(f)
• The responsible beekeeper must first obtain written consent from the property owner and give written notice to all owners and tenants within fifty feet of the hives, at least ten days before that consent is granted. The notice must state the hive location, the beekeeper's name, telephone and email, the property owner's name, telephone and email, and the date consent is intended to be granted. The beekeeper must also clearly stencil their name and phone number on the outside of the box. 24.12.650(3)(c)
• The responsible beekeeper must first obtain written consent from the property owner and from the homeowners association where one exists, and give written notice to all residents and owners within one hundred and fifty feet, at least ten days before consent is granted, with the same contents. The beekeeper must also stencil their name and phone number on the outside of the box. 24.12.650(3)(d)
• Hives may not be placed within ten feet of any private balcony, private yard or common open space, except spaces exclusively owned or leased by the responsible beekeeper. 24.12.650(3)(e)
• An apiary is any single or group of hives placed together on a property. A hive is the box or boxes in which honeybees are kept. A responsible beekeeper is the person or entity responsible for the placement, maintenance and safety of any individual hive or apiary. 24.12.650(2)
• The stated purpose is to encourage the environmentally beneficial practice of beekeeping, with a focus on the safety of neighbours, beekeepers and honeybees. The standards are adopted in accordance with Food and Agricultural Code § 29000, which declares that protection and promotion of the apiary industry is in the interest of the people of California. 24.12.650(1), (3)

A beekeeping permit from the community development director is required before any beekeeping. One colony is allowed on a single-family residential parcel over ten thousand square feet, and two on a parcel over forty thousand. Colonies must be twenty five feet from any side or rear property line and from any adjacent residence or business, sited toward the rear, with adequate water on the property. A violation is a misdemeanour.

Hive limit: One colony on a single-family residential parcel greater than ten thousand square feet, two on a parcel greater than forty thousand. The standards make no provision for a parcel below ten thousand square feet.

Note: Measure your parcel before anything else, because the thresholds here are high and they are the real rule. One bee colony is allowed on a single-family residential parcel greater than ten thousand square feet, and two on a parcel greater than forty thousand, which is close to an acre. Below ten thousand square feet the development standards make no provision at all, so there is no number for a smaller lot to work with. If you clear the size, you still need a beekeeping permit before any beekeeping starts. It is applied for on the city's form with a filing fee and site plans, and the community development director decides it, with the option to refer it to the planning commission. The finding they have to make is broad: that your beekeeping, its location, its effect and the resulting number of beekeeping permits in the neighbourhood will not be detrimental or injurious to property or to the health, safety and welfare of people living or working nearby. Note the phrase about the number of permits in a neighbourhood, because it means an application can be refused on the strength of your neighbours' hives rather than anything about yours. Colonies must sit at least twenty five feet from any side or rear property line and from any adjacent residence or business, and toward the rear of the property so far as is practical. Provide adequate water on the property. Appeals go to the planning commission. Take the penalty seriously: a violation of this section is a misdemeanour, which is the harshest grading attached to a hive count anywhere in this dataset.

• Obtain a beekeeping permit from the community development director before any beekeeping on the property. Apply on the city's form with the filing fee and any site plans or information the director requires. § 17.46.125(A), (C)
• One bee colony or hive box on a single-family residential parcel greater than ten thousand square feet. Up to two on a parcel greater than forty thousand square feet. § 17.46.125, development standards 1
• Keep no colony or hive box closer than twenty five feet from any side or rear property line, or from any adjacent residence or business. § 17.46.125, development standards 2
• Locate colonies toward the rear of the property so far as practical and feasible, as determined by the community development director. § 17.46.125, development standards 3
• Provide adequate water sources on any property where a colony is kept. § 17.46.125, development standards 4
• The director must find that the use, its location, its effect and the resulting number of beekeeping permits in the neighbourhood will not be detrimental or injurious to property or to the health, safety and welfare of people residing or working nearby. § 17.46.125(F)
• An appeal from the director's determination goes to the planning commission under § 17.50.060. § 17.46.125(G)
• A violation of this section is a misdemeanour. § 17.46.125(H)

Two hives per lot, but the animals title adds a setback the zoning chapter does not mention: no hive within twenty five feet of any dwelling and one hundred feet of any property line. The hundred foot rule needs a lot over two hundred feet across in both directions, which excludes ordinary residential lots.

Hive limit: Two hives per lot or parcel in both provisions. The binding constraint is not the count but the 100 foot property line setback in the animals title.

Note: Watsonville needs care, because the answer depends on reading two separate parts of the code and only one of them is easy to find. The zoning chapter says you may keep two hives on a lot in a residential district, twenty five feet from any dwelling or place of business. Read on its own that is a simple, achievable rule and it is what most people will come away with. But the animals title has its own bees section, and it adds a requirement the zoning chapter never mentions: no hive within one hundred feet of any property line. The two are meant to be read together, because the animals section expressly refers back to the zoning chapter, so both apply. That hundred foot rule is the one that decides your case. To have any spot on your land a hundred feet clear of every boundary, your lot has to be more than two hundred feet across in both directions, which is close to an acre before you have any usable placement at all. On an ordinary Watsonville house lot there is nowhere lawful to put a hive. So the practical position is that beekeeping is available on acreage and effectively closed to residential gardens, even though the zoning chapter on its own suggests otherwise. Two smaller points. Neither setback says "other than your own house", so on the face of it the twenty five feet applies to your own dwelling too. And the code defines the front property line for this purpose as the sidewalk boundary farthest from the street, which gives you a little relief at the front only. If you want to keep bees here, take both section numbers to the planning counter, § 6-1.507 and § 14-28.050, and ask them in writing which they enforce.

• No person may keep or maintain any hive of bees in the city except as authorized under Title 14 Chapter 28 and under the conditions in this section. 6-1.507
• No more than two hives may be maintained on any one lot or parcel of land. 6-1.507(a)
• No hive may be kept or maintained within twenty five feet of any dwelling and one hundred feet of any property line of the lot on which it is situated. For this subsection the front property line means the sidewalk boundary farthest from the street. 6-1.507(b)
• Not more than two hives of bees may be kept on any lot, and no hive may be closer than twenty five feet from any dwelling or place of business. This chapter does not repeat the hundred foot property line setback. 14-28.050