Council Bluffs, IA Animal Ordinances: Beekeeping (2026)

Council Bluffs Municipal Code § 4.22.020 lets residents keep honeybees but only within fixed limits. On a residentially-zoned lot under one acre, no more than two hives are allowed; lots over an acre may run two hives per acre, while nonresidential-zoned apiaries face no density cap as long as no nuisance results. Commercial or professionally-maintained apiaries are barred from residential-zoned premises outright; a residential apiary must be owned and maintained by the property's own owner or resident. Placement is tightly constrained: no hive within 50 feet of any dwelling other than the hive owner's, none within 25 feet of a property line unless a flyway barrier at least 6 feet tall and spanning 10 feet in both directions is built, none within 150 feet of a school, public park, in-ground pool or playground, and none in a front yard (a corner lot counts both sides as front yards).

Every apiary must provide fresh water within 10 feet of the hives. If a neighboring property later develops closer than these distances allow, the beekeeper must add flyway barriers to stay compliant. CBMC 4.22.010 defines apiary, bee, beekeeper, colony, flyway barrier and hive for the chapter, and 4.22.020 exempts bees kept in a school, university, or physician's office or laboratory for study, research or treatment. The city disclaims liability for hive damage from its own herbicide or pesticide use on rights-of-way or public property.