Sherman, TX Animal Ordinances: Beekeeping (2026)

The beekeeping standards sit in § 2.02.012(c) of the Sherman Code of Ordinances, inside Chapter 2 on animal control. The code defines bee as any stage of the common domestic honey bee (Apis mellifera). The text imposes five duties on a person who keeps bees. Each colony must be maintained in a healthy state. The grounds near each hive must be maintained in a sanitary manner. A convenient source of water must be available to each colony at all times. Each hive must be marked with the name and telephone number of the beekeeper. And the animal services supervisor has the authority to require a person to reduce the number of hives or require other reasonable safety precautions in an apiary in order to abate any nuisance.

Subsection (c) prints no fixed hive count and no setback distance, so the number of hives is controlled through the supervisor's nuisance authority, not through a number in the text. Sherman Animal Services, which falls under the authority of the Police Department, enforces the chapter through the animal services supervisor, who is responsible for its enforcement. Animal services officers who are licensed peace officers can issue citations under § 2.01.002(c). It is unlawful under § 2.01.002(d) to fail to comply with any lawful order of the supervisor or an animal services officer, which is the provision that gives a hive-reduction order its force. Under § 2.01.002(g), a person who claims an exception, excuse, proviso, or exemption carries the burden of proof as an affirmative defense. Chapter 2 applies within the city limits and within the area immediately contiguous and adjacent to them, extending a total distance of 5,000 feet, except where that area lies inside another municipality, so a hive just outside Sherman's boundary can still fall under the rule.