Tulare County Beekeeping Regulations

A full apiary code: 20 feet from state or county roads, 200 feet from occupied buildings, a quarter mile from schools and parks, with signage, landowner consent, water and vehicle rules.

Hive limit: No hive count is set. The separations and the siting rules are what govern.

Note: Tulare County’s rules are written with commercial and migratory beekeeping in mind, which makes them unusually practical if that is what you do and unusually demanding on distance if it is not. The separations are 20 feet from a state or county road, 200 feet from any occupied home or business unless the occupants agree, and a full quarter of a mile from any school or park, which is the largest separation we have found anywhere in California. If you keep bees on land that is not your own you need the landowner’s written permission first, and any apiary away from your own residence must carry a sign with your name, address and telephone number in inch-high letters on the entrance side. There are also rules for the truck: hives in transit must be parked or screened so the bees are not a hazard, and service vehicles must be identified.

• "Apiary" means one or more hives of bees. "Hive" means any receptacle or container made or prepared for the use of bees, or which is inhabited by bees. 6-05-2010
• An apiary on premises other than the beekeeper’s residence must carry a sign showing the owner’s name, address and telephone number, or a statement that they have no telephone. The sign goes on the longer side of the hive or super, prominently on the entrance side, in black printed or stencilled letters at least one inch high on white or another contrasting colour, and must be maintained at all times. 6-05-2020
• No apiary may be placed or maintained on the land of another without first securing written permission from the owner or the person entitled to possession. 6-05-2030
• To prevent bees becoming a hazard or nuisance, no apiary may be placed within 20 feet of the right-of-way of a state highway or county road, within one quarter of a mile of the outside boundary of any school or park, or within 200 feet of any occupied residence or building occupied for business purposes, unless the occupants consent. 6-05-2040
• The owner must provide the bees with an adequate supply of water of a quality suitable for bees, available in immediate proximity to the apiary. 6-05-2050
• A vehicle transporting hives must be parked or screened so bees do not become a hazard or nuisance to people or animals nearby when it is parked or stopped, and vehicles used to transport bees or service an apiary must carry identification. 6-05-2060—6-05-2070

Beekeeping is prohibited. The code devotes a chapter to bees whose single section bans keeping any stand or hive anywhere in the city, with no exception stated.

Hive limit: Beekeeping is prohibited outright.

Note: Read against the current Dinuba Municipal Code in August 2026. Chapter 6.08 contains one section and it is the prohibition — there is no permit route or zone exception anywhere in the chapter. Confirm at the source before acting.

• No person shall keep, maintain or harbor any stand or hive of bees within this city. (Prior code § 4511) Dinuba Municipal Code 6.08.010 Beekeeping prohibited

Keeping honeybees in Exeter is unlawful and a misdemeanour between 1 June and 1 October in any year, and any colony kept in that window is declared a public nuisance. Outside those four months the code says nothing about beekeeping.

Hive limit: No hive count is set. The constraint is the calendar: colonies may not be kept in the city at all between 1 June and 1 October.

Note: Exeter bans beekeeping for four months a year rather than all year, which is a form we have not found anywhere else in California. Between the first of June and the first of October it is unlawful, and a misdemeanour, to bring, have, keep or maintain any colony of honeybees inside the city, and any colony kept in that window is also declared a public nuisance in its own right. Read that as a beekeeper and the practical effect is larger than it first looks. June through September is the active season: the honey flow, the peak of the brood cycle, and the months when a colony is at its heaviest and least able to be moved without damage. The permitted eight months are the ones a colony needs the least attention. The code does not say what a beekeeper is expected to do with an established hive each June, and moving colonies out of the city every summer and back every autumn is not something a hobbyist can realistically do. If you keep bees in Exeter or are thinking about it, take this to the city in writing before you spend anything, and ask specifically what the section expects of an existing colony. Worth knowing that these two sections are not a leftover: the city repealed its entire animal title and adopted a new one on 13 January 2026, and carried both of them forward.

• It shall be unlawful and a misdemeanor for any individual or entity to bring, have, keep, or maintain, within the city, at any time between the first day of June and the first day of October, in any year, any swarm or swarms, colony or colonies of honeybees. 6.08.070
• Any swarm or swarms, colony or colonies of honeybees so brought, had, kept or maintained, within the city at any time between the first day of June and the first day of October in any year, shall constitute a public nuisance. 6.08.080

A.It shall be unlawful for any owner to bring, have, keep, or maintain, within the city any swarm or swarms, colony or colonies of honey bees. Exception shall be for apiaries traveling through the city without stopping.B.Any swarm or swarms, colony or colonies of honey bees located within the city shall be deemed a public nuisance; 6.01.935 - Bees exemption. This section shall not apply to primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities for the purpose of education. One hive, colony or swarm of honey bees shall be permitted within the city and it must be placed in an area free of human contact.

• One hive, colony or swarm of honey bees shall be permitted within the city and it must be placed in an area free of human contact. 6.01.935
• Any swarm or swarms, colony or colonies of honey bees located within the city shall be deemed a public nuisance; and it is made the duty of any officer to abate such nuisance by either destroying any such bees, or by removing or causing the same to be removed from the city. 6.01.930

Lindsay prohibits keeping bees anywhere in the city. § 6.28.010 lists bees, and expressly includes apiaries, hives and any other device containing a colony, among the animals prohibited from being kept within all districts. There is no permit route and no exception anywhere in the animals title.

Hive limit: Not a limit. Keeping bees is prohibited in every district, so the answer is none rather than a number.

Note: This is one of the few outright bans in California and it is worth understanding how it is written, because the structure tells you it was meant. Ordinance 545, adopted on 22 April 2014, created two prohibition lists. One, at § 6.28.020, bars horses, cows, goats, sheep, pigs, ducks, geese, turkeys, roosters and peacocks from the R and RM residential districts only, so those animals remain lawful elsewhere in the city. The other, at § 6.28.010, bars a much shorter list from all districts, and bees are on that list next to dangerous dogs, fighting cocks, zoo animals, endangered animals, predatory wild animals, poisonous reptiles and poisonous arachnids. The city had a residential-only list to hand and chose the citywide one. The wording closes the obvious gap as well: it prohibits bees "including apiaries, hives or other device or devices containing any colony or colonies of bees", so keeping the equipment is caught along with keeping the bees. Nothing in the animals title creates a permit, a variance or an agricultural exception. If you keep bees near Lindsay, check whether your parcel is inside the city limits or in unincorporated Tulare County, because the county card is a separate question and the answer there is different. If you want this changed, the route is the city council, since a prohibition adopted by ordinance can be amended by ordinance. Confirm the current text at the link before relying on this, and note that the code is now published on municipalcodeonline rather than Municode.

• Bees, including apiaries, hives or any other device containing a colony or colonies of bees, are prohibited from being kept within all districts. § 6.28.010
• The chapter contains no permit, variance or agricultural exception. Its only other section, § 6.28.020, is a separate list applying to the R and RM residential districts and does not mention bees. Ch. 6.28

Unlawful to keep bees. Exemption: shipped in for pollination services and then removed from city limits after services rendered.

In the City of Tulare, there are no municipal codes set in place for the ownership of apiaries.

Permitted in Zones for Agriculture and Open Space, must comply with chapter 17.38. Any swarm or swarms, colony or colonies of honey bees so brought, had, kept or maintained, within the city at any time between the first day of June and the first day of October in any year, shall constitute a public nuisance.

No person shall keep, within the city, any hive or swarm of honey bees

• No person shall keep, within the city, any hive or swarm of honey bees. 6.08.060