Chicago, IL Animal Ordinances: Beekeeping (2026)

The Chicago Zoning Ordinance treats an apiary as an accessory use tied to whatever primary activity is on the site, a house, garden, or business, so no separate zoning district or conditional use is required to keep bees. The limit is hard-coded into the definition itself: up to five colonies per site, full stop, regardless of lot size. There's no city beekeeping license or registration requirement in the code; the cap is the entire rule. Anyone wanting more than five colonies, or a commercial apiary operation, falls outside the accessory-use definition and would need to seek a variance or different zoning approval from the Chicago Department of Planning and Development.