Riverside County, CA Animal Ordinances: Beekeeping (2026)

Riverside County's Land Use Ordinance No. 348 governs where bees may be kept in the unincorporated areas. In the A-1 (Light Agriculture) zone, the ordinance lists "apiaries" alongside nurseries, greenhouses, orchards, and aviaries as permitted agricultural uses, with associated permanent buildings and structures required to be set back not nearer than 20 feet from the boundaries of the premises. Because beekeeping is classified as an agricultural use, it is most clearly allowed on agriculturally zoned and rural parcels rather than on small standard residential lots; property owners should confirm their specific zoning and any plot-plan or use-permit requirements with the Riverside County Planning Department. Ordinance 348 does not itself set a per-parcel hive count or hive-spacing standard in the apiary listing, so the controlling limits come from the zone's general agricultural-use provisions and any applicable conditions. Separately, California's Food and Agricultural Code requires beekeepers to register their apiaries annually with the county Agricultural Commissioner where the bees are located and to identify hives, so registration with the Riverside County Agricultural Commissioner is part of lawful beekeeping. Beekeepers should also avoid creating a nuisance, as nuisance conditions can be abated under county code.