Memphis, TN Animal Ordinances: Beekeeping (2026)

F of the Unified Development Code, in the Open Use Standards chapter shared by the City of Memphis and unincorporated Shelby County, treats apiaries as a permitted accessory use subject to state registration and local siting limits. Every colony must first be registered with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture as required by the Tennessee Apiary Act of 1995, codified at Tennessee Code Annotated Title 44, Chapter 15, and must follow every standard set out in that state act. On top of the state registration, the local code sets a hard setback: no hive may sit closer than 15 feet to any property line, measured from the nearest point on the hive itself.

The number of colonies allowed then scales with lot size. A lot of a half acre or less may keep 2 colonies; more than a half acre but under three-quarters of an acre allows 4; more than three-quarters of an acre but under a full acre allows 6; and a full acre or larger allows 8. Outside the Conservation Agriculture district, 8 colonies is the ceiling no matter how large the parcel gets. Inside the CA district, however, there is no cap at all as long as every hive is set back at least 200 feet in every direction from all property lines of the tract, a much deeper buffer than the standard 15-foot setback that applies everywhere else.