Idaho Falls City Code 5-5-5 allows keeping honeybees with conditions. Hive limits scale with lot size (2 hives on lots 8,000 sq ft or less, up to 5 hives on a half-acre or more). Hives must be 7 feet from property lines and 30 feet from dwellings, kept only in side/rear yards, and every hive must be registered with the City's Animal Shelter.
Idaho Falls City Code Title 5, Chapter 5, Section 5-5-5 governs the keeping of beehives, allowing only the common domestic honeybee (Apis mellifera) and expressly excluding the African honeybee. Hive counts scale by lot size: no more than two (2) hives on lots 8,000 square feet or smaller, three (3) hives on lots from 12,000 to 20,000 square feet, and up to five (5) hives on lots of one-half acre or more (5-5-5(D)(1)). Apiaries must be kept only in a side or rear yard of a residential lot, never in commercial or industrial zones (5-5-5(D)(2)). Hives must be placed at least seven feet (7') from any property line, at least six inches (6") above the ground, and not within thirty feet (30') of any dwelling, porch, deck, swing set, sandbox, playground equipment, or swimming pool unless the owner gives written consent (5-5-5(D)(4)). If a hive is within 30 feet of an adjacent property line, a barrier at least six feet (6') high and twenty feet (20') long must stand between the hive and the line (5-5-5(D)(5)). A fresh water supply must be maintained within 15 to 25 feet of the apiary (5-5-5(D)(6)). Queens must be bred for gentleness and non-swarming; aggressive or Africanized colonies must be re-queened or removed (5-5-5(D)(8)-(9)). Beekeepers must comply with the Idaho State Bee Inspection statute (5-5-5(D)(11)) and register each hive with the City's Animal Shelter (5-5-5(D)(12)).
Keeping more hives than the lot size allows, placing hives too close to property lines or dwellings, keeping a non-Apis-mellifera or Africanized colony without re-queening, or failing to register hives with the Animal Shelter violates Section 5-5-5. Hives must also bear a legible label with the beekeeper's name and phone number (5-5-5(D)(10)).
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