Gilroy, CA Animal Ordinances: Beekeeping (2026)

Section 4.20 of the Gilroy City Code, titled to cover 'swine, bees, chickens, roosters, peafowl, ostriches and other "Ratitae," and livestock,' bars keeping any of those animals, bees included, on premises that have not been zoned for agricultural use. Unlike chickens, pigeons, turkeys, pea fowl, water fowl and other small fowl, bees get no carve-out under Section 4.23, the city's small animals ordinance: Section 4.23.1 defines 'small animal' for that exemption as chickens, pigeons, turkeys, pea fowl, water fowl and other Ratitae under 24 inches in mature height, plus rabbits, with no mention of bees or hives.

That means the residential exemption in Section 4.23.2, which lets a homeowner keep up to six small animals in a residential zone, does not extend to beekeeping; a hive on non-agricultural land in Gilroy remains squarely prohibited under Section 4.20(a) regardless of colony size. Section 4.20(b) separately bars establishing any dairy, stock yard, cattle ranch, or poultry ranch on non-agricultural land, reinforcing that agricultural-scale animal husbandry, including apiaries, is confined to land the city has zoned for agricultural use. The animal control administrator and Gilroy Police Department enforce Chapter 4 citywide, with the Community Development Department controlling which parcels carry the agricultural zoning designation that triggers the exemption.