Burlington, WI Animal Ordinances: Beekeeping (2026)

Section 104-15 of the City Code permits keeping bees anywhere in the City so long as three conditions in Subsection A are met. First, if bee colonies sit within 50 feet of any exterior boundary of the property where the hive, stand, or box is located, the keeper must install and maintain a barrier along that boundary at least five feet tall that prevents bees from flying through it; the code allows the barrier to be either a living plant hedge or an artificial structure.

Second, the keeper must provide fresh, clean watering facilities for the bees on the premises, which keeps foraging bees from concentrating at neighbors' pools, birdbaths, or hose bibs. Third, the bees and all beekeeping equipment must be kept in accordance with state law, which pulls in the Wisconsin apiary statutes and Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection registration requirements by reference. Subsection B then carves out a specific exception: nothing in the section prohibits keeping bees in a hive, stand, or box located inside a school or university building for study or observation, so classroom apiaries are not subject to the setback or watering rules.

The section does not set a colony-count cap or require a City-issued beekeeping permit; the standards are purely locational and husbandry-based. Like the rest of Chapter 104, Animals, enforcement runs through the penalty clause at the end of the chapter.