Placentia, CA Animal Ordinances: Beekeeping (2026)
Key Facts
- Core rule
- Keeping any hive or swarm of honey bees is prohibited
- Geographic scope
- Anywhere within the City of Placentia
- Hive allowance
- None printed in Chapter 9.12
- Exceptions
- None printed in Chapter 9.12
- Criminal penalty ceiling
- $1,000 fine or one year imprisonment, or both (§ 1.08.010)
- Courtesy notice
- Required before an administrative citation absent immediate danger
Summary
The City of Placentia, California, bans beekeeping outright. Placentia Municipal Code § 9.12.010 provides that no person shall keep, within the city, any hive or swarm of honey bees. Chapter 9.12 prints no permit route, no hive count, no setback and no exception.
No person shall keep, within the city, any hive or swarm of honey bees.
Full Breakdown
Chapter 9.12 of the Placentia Municipal Code, titled Bees, sits in Title 9, Animals and Fowl, and consists of a single sentence in § 9.12.010: no person shall keep, within the city, any hive or swarm of honey bees. The section carries forward prior code § 4-8. It does not distinguish between a residential lot and a commercial one, and it does not set a number of hives, a distance from a neighbor or a registration step. The prohibition runs to any hive or swarm kept within the city.
Compare how the same title treats other animals. Section 9.08.010 allows up to 10 fowls or similar animals per occupied lot at least 100 feet from the dwelling house of another, and up to two horses, cows, goats or similar animals at least 150 feet away. Bees receive no such allowance. The exemption in § 9.08.040 applies by its own terms to the provisions of that chapter, Chapter 9.08, and it concerns persons engaged in the business of raising and selling chickens, turkeys, pigeons, ducks, geese or rabbits or eggs. It says nothing about bees.
Enforcement runs through the general provisions of Title 1. Section 1.08.010 punishes a prohibited act where no specific penalty is provided, and every day a violation continues is a separate offense. Chapter 1.10 allows an administrative citation, and § 1.10.030(g) requires the enforcement officer to serve a pre-citation or courtesy notice before citing a violation that does not create an immediate danger to life, health or safety. Chapter 9.04 adopts the Orange County animal control ordinance by reference, but the bee prohibition itself is a City of Placentia rule printed in Chapter 9.12.
Violations & Fines
Chapter 9.12 prints no penalty of its own, so § 1.08.010 applies: a fine not exceeding $1,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or both, with every day a separate offense. Section 1.10.030 allows an administrative citation, with fines set by council resolution or, where none is set, not exceeding $100 for a first violation, $200 for a second within one year and $500 for each additional violation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I keep a backyard beehive in the City of Placentia?
Does Placentia limit the number of hives instead of banning them?
What happens if a neighbor keeps hives?
Do the poultry exemptions cover beekeepers?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Placentia
California rules heatmap·Compare Placentia to another location·View the California animal ordinances overview
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Beekeeping in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Orange County handle beekeeping.