Minnehaha County does NOT regulate beekeeping in its Animal Control Ordinance (MC52-17). The ordinance's definition of 'Animal' (§ 1.06) is limited to 'mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian or fish' — honey bees are NOT covered. Hive placement in unincorporated areas is governed by the 1990 Revised Minnehaha County Zoning Ordinance (agricultural and rural-residential districts permit apiaries) and by the South Dakota state apiary program at SDCL Chapter 38-18 (Apiaries), which is administered by the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
State apiary registration: SDCL § 38-18-3 requires owners of one or more colonies of bees to register the apiary's location annually with the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The state issues bee-yard permits to control disease and avoid hive-location conflicts among commercial honey producers. South Dakota is the #2 honey-producing state in the U.S., so the apiary statute is strictly enforced for commercial operators. Hobby beekeepers (typically a handful of hives in an unincorporated rural backyard) are subject to the same registration requirement. The county imposes NO local hive-count cap, setback distance, water-source rule, or notification requirement. Within Sioux Falls city limits, Sioux Falls Code of Ordinances § 90.075 (Honey Bee Hives, since 2018) governs and the county ordinance does NOT apply.
Failure to register an apiary with the SD Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources is a misdemeanor under SDCL § 38-18-19; the apiary inspector may order disease abatement or destruction of infected colonies. Because the county Animal Control Ordinance does not list bees, there is no county-level Class 2 misdemeanor for beekeeping itself — enforcement of nuisance bee-yards in unincorporated areas would proceed under the county's Declaration and Abatement of Public Nuisances ordinance (MC __-04) and under SDCL § 21-10-1 (nuisance defined).
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