Hawthorne, CA Animal Ordinances: Beekeeping (2026)

Hawthorne regulates beekeeping in its Animal Care and Keeping Animals chapter (Chapter 6.24 of the Hawthorne Municipal Code). The code states that 'no person shall keep any hive or swarm of bees within two hundred feet of any residence, hospital, sanitarium, public eating place, school, church, office building, store, home, apartment house, rooming house, or any other place of habitation.' On Hawthorne's dense, predominantly residential lots, a 200-foot separation from every place of habitation is effectively impossible to meet on a typical parcel, so backyard hives are rarely permissible without an unusually large or specially situated property. The chapter carves out two narrow exceptions: the section does not apply to keeping bees within an educational institute for study or observation, or within a physician's office or laboratory for medical research, treatment, or other scientific purposes, provided the bees are not permitted to fly at large. Statewide, beekeepers must also register apiaries annually with the county agricultural commissioner under the California Food & Agricultural Code (apiary registration provisions), and California protects managed honeybee colonies from certain nuisance claims when kept in compliance with local ordinances. Anyone considering hives in Hawthorne should confirm the current setback and any permit requirements with the city's code enforcement office before installing a colony.