Lake County cannot regulate honeybee colonies. Florida law (FS 586.10) preempts all authority to regulate, inspect, permit, and place managed honeybee colonies to the state (FDACS), overriding any county or city ordinance. Beekeepers must register their colonies annually with FDACS.
Managed beekeeping in Lake County is governed by state law, not local ordinance. FS 586.10 preempts to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services the authority to regulate, inspect, permit, and set placement and location rules for registered, inspected managed honeybee colonies, superseding any related county or municipal ordinance. Every beekeeper must register colonies with FDACS annually (fee capped at $100). This means Lake County and its cities cannot ban beekeeping or impose their own hive setbacks.
Enforcement is by FDACS, not Lake County; unregistered or non-compliant apiaries are subject to FDACS inspection, quarantine, or treatment orders.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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