Santa Barbara County, CA Animal Ordinances: Beekeeping (2026)

County Code Article V of Chapter 7 regulates apiaries countywide in the unincorporated area, finding that "unregulated and improper keeping of bees and apiaries" has become a nuisance and safety hazard. Sec. 7-31 sets the core siting limits: no apiary may sit close enough to a public or private road to create a nuisance or hazard, and except when pollinating crops, no apiary may be located within 300 feet of a property line or road. A hive also cannot sit closer than 600 feet to a neighboring dwelling unless the occupant of that dwelling gives permission.

Sec. 7-32 separately requires the beekeeper to get the landowner's or tenant's written permission before placing hives on land the keeper does not own. Sec. 7-34 requires the apiary owner to supply and maintain a water source at the hive from the time it is set, unless the landowner permits use of water already on the property. Sec. 7-35 adds fire rules for apiaries in hazardous fire areas: a 30-foot firebreak clear of flammable vegetation around the apiary at all times, extendable to 100 feet if the county fire chief finds extra-hazardous conditions, and no lighted or smoldering material may be used to smoke bees without a written fire chief permit.

Sec. 7-29 also requires identification of any apiary kept on property other than where the keeper resides, per state law. Enforcement runs through the county agricultural commissioner for general violations and the fire chief for fire-related violations.