Beekeeping is legal across Lee County and treated as agriculture. Contrary to common belief, Ala. Code §2-14-3 requires every beekeeper to register their colonies each year by October 1 with the state Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries.
Keeping honeybees is lawful throughout Lee County, and no county permit exists for it. The one binding statewide rule is registration: Ala. Code §2-14-3 requires every beekeeper to register each colony, bee yard, and apiary on or before October 1 each year with the Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries, on forms showing the number and location of hives. The state apiary program, not the county, sets the fee and inspects for diseases and pests like the varroa mite and small hive beetle. Alabama's beekeeping community is anchored at Auburn University, home of the state apiarist and entomology research. Auburn and Opelika may add hive-placement setbacks by ordinance; unincorporated land generally does not.
Failing to register colonies by October 1 violates §2-14-3 and is punishable under the chapter's penalty provisions, enforced by the state apiary inspector. The county imposes no separate beekeeping penalty.
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