Shasta County, CA Animal Ordinances: Beekeeping (2026)

08 requires every apiary in the county to be registered under state Food and Agricultural Code Section 29040 and to carry the identification signage required by Section 29046. No one may keep bees on another person's land without first getting the landowner's permission, and written proof of that permission must be produced for the agricultural commissioner on request. 060 sets the core siting rule: hives cannot sit closer than 300 feet to any residence or dwelling other than the beekeeper's own, or one where the landowner has consented, and a violating apiary is expressly declared a public nuisance that must be relocated.

Two exceptions soften that limit: the 300-foot rule only applies against a dwelling built after the apiary was already operating if the commissioner separately declares the apiary a nuisance, and it does not apply where flight-dispersing barriers adequately prevent the apiary from becoming a nuisance, to the commissioner's satisfaction. Hives also cannot sit closer than 100 feet to a public highway except temporarily while being transported, and the commissioner must be able to inspect inside every hive without obstruction. Anyone keeping bees must, within five days of a written request, give the commissioner a list of the number and location of all apiaries they control in the county, must maintain either a natural water source within a half mile or an artificial water supply within 150 feet of the apiary, and must not let bees or a parked transport vehicle create a public nuisance on public roads.