Kenosha, WI Animal Ordinances: Beekeeping (2026)

02(A) of the Code of General Ordinances lists bees among the animals a person may not keep, feed or breed anywhere in the City of Kenosha, alongside swine, cattle, goats, horses, sheep and poultry, unless the property sits in the A-1 or A-2 Agricultural Zoning District. Inside those two districts, an owner may keep bees only after first obtaining a permit from the Administrator of Health or a designee, and the permit itself is conditioned on the animals being kept so they do not become a public nuisance or health hazard.

The Health Administrator's permit can limit how many hives or colonies are allowed and can impose fencing, setback and maintenance requirements calibrated to promote health and sanitation on that specific lot. The ordinance singles out one type of bee for a flat prohibition: killer bees of the African or South American species may not be kept, fed or bred in the City under any circumstances, in any zoning district, permit or no permit. Because the permit process sits inside the same subsection that bans backyard livestock outside agricultural zones, a beekeeper in an ordinary residential district has no path to a lawful hive at all; the option only opens up on A-1 or A-2 zoned land. 09.