Beekeepers in Mendocino County must register their colonies with the County Agricultural Commissioner, consistent with California's statewide apiary-registration requirement administered through the BeeWhere/CalAgPermits system. Registration is $10 per beekeeper, and beekeepers must notify origin and destination counties within 72 hours of any hive movement.
In Mendocino County, beekeeping is administered by the County Department of Agriculture / Agricultural Commissioner rather than Animal Care Services, reflecting California's statewide apiary program. California Food & Agricultural Code requires beekeepers to register their apiaries annually with the agricultural commissioner of the county in which the bees are located, and Mendocino County implements this through its Apiary program and the statewide BeeWhere (CalAgPermits) system. The County's Apiary page states that all beekeepers within the county are required to register their colonies with the County Commissioner, with the purpose of tracking and safeguarding hive locations across California. The registration fee is $10 per beekeeper. Beekeepers are required to make notifications to the county of origin and destination county within 72 hours of any hive movement. Registration helps the Agricultural Commissioner notify beekeepers ahead of nearby pesticide applications so colonies can be protected. Separate from registration, where you may place hives on a given parcel is a zoning question under Title 20; agricultural districts are intended for raising crops and animals. Because the County publishes apiary requirements on its Agriculture pages and through the state BeeWhere portal, beekeepers should register through CalAgPermits/BeeWhere or directly with the Mendocino County Department of Agriculture.
Failing to register an apiary with the Agricultural Commissioner, or failing to provide the required 72-hour notification of hive movement between counties, places a beekeeper out of compliance with the County apiary program and California's statewide registration requirement. Enforcement is by the County Department of Agriculture / Agricultural Commissioner. Placement of hives in a manner inconsistent with the parcel's zoning (Title 20) is a separate zoning matter handled by Planning & Building Services. Bees kept so as to create a nuisance may also draw nuisance enforcement.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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