Santa Maria, CA Animal Ordinances: Beekeeping (2026)

701 flatly prohibits commercial beekeeping within Santa Maria while permitting noncommercial keeping of bees only if the keeper follows the rest of Article 7; hives kept in a school or research institution purely for study are exempt from the whole article. 702 limits colonies to the honeybee species Apis mellifera, requires movable-frame hives, adequate space to prevent overcrowding or swarming, and re-queening after any swarming or aggressive episode, and every colony must be registered with the County Agricultural Commissioner. 703 sets the density and siting limits: no more than four hives on a lot under 10,000 square feet, with one additional hive allowed per each extra 5,000 square feet of lot area, and no hive may sit within 10 feet of any property line unless it's elevated eight feet or more above the ground.

702(e) requires the keeper to control the colony so it doesn't disturb a neighbor's peace and quiet; if the Director of Community Development finds a violation after a resident complaint, the beekeeper must relocate the hive to at least 300 feet from the complaining property's boundary. 704 layers on state law, requiring compliance with the Agriculture Code's bee-management and honey-production rules, which the County Agricultural Commission enforces separately from the city's own hive-siting rules.