Delaware County sets no beekeeping rule. Statewide, the PA Bee Law requires every beekeeper to register apiaries with the PA Department of Agriculture ($10 for about two years). Whether hives are allowed on your lot and any setbacks are set by your borough or township zoning.
Two layers apply and neither is the county. First, the statewide PA Bee Law (3 Pa.C.S. Ch. 21) mandates that all beekeepers register their apiaries with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Plant Industry so state inspectors can check hives for disease; registration is $10 covering roughly a two-year period. Second, whether you may keep hives at your address, plus colony caps, flyway barriers, and property-line setbacks, is a municipal zoning question under the PA Municipalities Planning Code — many Delaware County boroughs and townships follow the PSATS model beekeeping ordinance. Delaware County government itself imposes no beekeeping ordinance.
Failure to register an apiary is enforced by the PA Department of Agriculture. Zoning-based hive violations are penalized by your municipality, typically daily fines.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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Backyard composting is legal across Delaware County and encouraged by the county's Act 101 recycling program. There is no county compost permit, but municipa...
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Delaware County sets no rule on artificial turf. Whether synthetic grass is allowed, and any impervious-coverage or stormwater conditions, is decided by your...
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Delaware County has no rule against native-plant or meadow landscaping. Native gardens are encouraged for stormwater and pollinator benefits, but you must st...
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Rainwater harvesting is legal in Pennsylvania and Delaware County has no ban. The county and its municipalities generally encourage rain barrels and cisterns...
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Delaware County publishes no lawn-watering schedule. Mandatory outdoor-water restrictions in Pennsylvania take effect only when the Governor declares a droug...
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There is no Delaware County weed ordinance. Each municipality bans noxious weeds and overgrown vegetation through its own property-maintenance code. Lower Ch...
See how Delaware County's beekeeping rules stack up against other locations.
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