Beekeeping is legal across St. Joseph County and treated as agriculture. Indiana requires no state hive registration, though the DNR offers voluntary registration and inspects for disease. Recklessly disturbing someone's hives is a Class B misdemeanor.
Keeping honey bees is lawful throughout St. Joseph County and treated as agriculture. Indiana does not require beekeepers to register their apiaries; the Department of Natural Resources Division of Entomology and Plant Pathology offers voluntary registration and may inspect any apiary for pests and pathogens under Indiana Code 14-24-8. State law also protects colonies: Indiana Code 14-24-11-4 makes it a Class B misdemeanor to recklessly disturb or molest another person's hive without permission. Municipal zoning in South Bend and Mishawaka may add hive-placement setbacks from lot lines; the rural south and west impose little.
Recklessly disturbing or molesting another beekeeper's hive without permission is a Class B misdemeanor under Indiana Code 14-24-11-4. A city can separately enforce zoning setbacks on hive placement.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
St. Joseph County, IN
St. Joseph County does not regulate holiday lights, inflatables, or yard displays on homes. No county or municipal ordinance limits seasonal decorations; onl...
St. Joseph County, IN
Garage-sale signs are temporary signs in St. Joseph County, up to 24 square feet per frontage and two per lot in residential districts under Zoning Ordinance...
St. Joseph County, IN
St. Joseph County allows political yard signs as temporary signs. Zoning Ordinance §154.373 exempts signs up to 2 square feet from permits; a larger temporar...
St. Joseph County, IN
South Bend requires every non-occupant landlord to register rentals annually by September 1. Indiana Code 36-1-20-5 caps the fee at five dollars. Unincorpora...
St. Joseph County, IN
Indiana has no just-cause eviction. In St. Joseph County a landlord may end a tenancy without giving a reason. For unpaid rent, IC 32-31-1-6 requires at leas...
St. Joseph County, IN
Rent control is illegal in St. Joseph County. Indiana Code 32-31-1-20 bars any unit, including South Bend, Mishawaka, and the county, from regulating rental ...
See how St. Joseph County's beekeeping rules stack up against other locations.
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.