Fairfield allows honey bees in all zoning districts subject to nuisance and confinement standards. Apiarists in California must also register colonies annually with their county agricultural commissioner under state law.
Fairfield's Municipal Code permits the keeping of honey bees in all zoning areas of the city, provided the apiary does not become a public nuisance under Chapter 27 (Community Preservation). Bees that swarm, sting neighbors, or otherwise interfere with the use of adjacent property may be ordered removed. Beyond local rules, California Food and Agricultural Code Section 29040 requires every person who owns or operates apiaries (one or more hives) to register annually with the county agricultural commissioner where the bees are located. In Fairfield this means registering with the Solano County Agricultural Commissioner by January 1 each year, listing the number of colonies and apiary locations. Best practices encouraged statewide and recommended by Solano County include placing hives at least 15 to 25 feet from property lines, providing a constant water source on the beekeeper's property to keep bees off neighbors' pools, and using six-foot flyway barriers (a solid fence or dense hedge) where hives are near a property line to direct the bees' flight path upward.
Hives that generate complaints may be inspected. Failure to register apiaries with Solano County is an infraction under California Food and Agricultural Code. Nuisance hives may be ordered abated under Chapter 27, with administrative fines and potential removal of the colony.
Fairfield, CA
Residential pools in Fairfield must be enclosed by a barrier between 60 and 72 inches tall with self-closing, self-latching gates that open away from the poo...
Fairfield, CA
Fairfield does not prescribe specific residential fence materials beyond prohibiting barbed wire, razor wire, and electrified fencing in residential zones. C...
Fairfield, CA
Fairfield follows California Civil Code Β§841, the Good Neighbor Fence Law: adjoining owners are presumed to share equally in the cost of building, maintainin...
Fairfield, CA
Fairfield requires a building permit for fences and freestanding walls over 7 feet tall and for retaining walls over 4 feet measured from the bottom of the f...
Fairfield, CA
Fairfield Municipal Code Section 25.30 caps front-yard fences at 42 inches within 15 feet of the front property line and 7 feet beyond that. Street side yard...
Fairfield, CA
Under California SB 1383, all Fairfield residents and businesses must subscribe to organic-waste collection and separate food scraps, food-soiled paper, and ...
Side-by-side rule comparisons with other cities in Solano County.
See how other cities in Solano County handle beekeeping.
See how Fairfield's beekeeping rules stack up against other locations.
Quick Compare
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.