New Britain, CT Animal Ordinances: Beekeeping (2026)

Section 6-37 of the Code of Ordinances makes keeping one or more colonies of the common domestic honeybee, Apis mellifera, a permitted accessory use citywide. Colony limits scale with lot size: a quarter acre or less allows two colonies plus two nuclei, more than a quarter acre allows four colonies plus three nuclei, more than half an acre to one acre allows six colonies plus six nuclei, more than one to one and a half acres allows eight colonies plus five nuclei, and lots larger than one and a half acres allow ten colonies plus five nuclei.

Setbacks from roads, walkways and rights-of-way scale with colony count: four colonies or fewer must sit at least twenty-five feet from every property line, and more than four colonies must sit at least fifty feet away. Any part of a property line within fifty feet of a colony must be shielded by a flyway barrier at least six feet high, made of a wall, fence, dense vegetation or a combination, positioned so bees fly over rather than through it. An on-site fresh water source closer to the hive than any neighboring water source is required, hives must use removable frames kept sound and usable, and adequate space must prevent overcrowding and swarming.

Honey and bee products cannot be produced for commercial sale. Beekeepers must also register their bees annually with the State Entomologist by October 1, and the city will not issue or renew a keeping permit until that state registration is on file.