Oak Park, IL Animal Ordinances: Beekeeping (2026)

Village Code section 20-11-2 requires anyone establishing a honeybee apiary in the Village of Oak Park to first obtain a beekeeping permit from the Director of Public Health, paying a $75 nonrefundable fee per apiary location; permits expire March 31 each year and must be renewed annually with the same fee. Applying for a permit authorizes the Director of Public Health to enter the property to inspect the apiary for compliance, and permits are non-transferable to another person or location, with no refund for an unexpired term. Section 20-11-1 limits regulated bees to the common domestic honeybee, Apis mellifera, expressly excluding the African honeybee and Africanized honeybees, and requires the hive to be a Langstroth type hive kept in sound, usable condition under section 20-11-3.

Placement is tightly controlled. Section 20-11-5 bars apiaries on underdeveloped property or on property owned or controlled by someone else, and requires hives to sit at least five feet from all property lines. Section 20-11-6 requires a flyway barrier at least ten feet in front of the hive entrance, made of a solid wall, fence or dense vegetation at least six feet high and extending ten feet beyond the hives so bees are forced up to a six-foot elevation at the property line; the whole apiary must be enclosed by fencing or dense vegetation at least five feet high with a latched gate kept closed when the beekeeper is absent. Section 20-11-7 requires a weatherproof sign reading 'Warning - Beehives On Property' posted on the gate.

Colony density is capped at two colonies per property under section 20-11-9. Section 20-11-8 protects allergic neighbors: the Department of Public Health keeps a bee allergy registry, and the Village will not issue an original beekeeping permit for an apiary within 150 feet of a registered address. Beekeepers must also register with the Illinois Department of Agriculture under section 20-11-2(E). Violations draw a fine under section 1-1-5 of the Code, and the Village may revoke the permit and refuse future permits to the violator or to anyone else living at the violation address, per section 20-11-10.