Puyallup, WA Animal Ordinances: Beekeeping (2026)

030 permits keeping bees, including honey bees, mason bees, cutter bees and other cavity-nesting or pollinator bees, subject to specific rules for honey bees. 021. Hive counts scale with lot size as an accessory use to a single-family home: a maximum of two hives on property up to a quarter acre, up to four hives on property between a quarter acre and one acre, and two additional hives per additional acre beyond that. Honey bee hives generally cannot sit within 25 feet of any lot line, though that setback can shrink to 10 feet if the keeper uses elevation changes, solid fencing or similar techniques to force bees to gain height before crossing the property line, reducing the risk of contact with neighbors.

Bee varieties other than honey bees, such as mason or cutter bees, face a lighter standard: the area housing them need only be a minimum of 10 feet from adjacent properties and sized appropriately for pollinating the owner's own lot, with no state registration or hive-count cap referenced in this section.