Tuscaloosa, AL Animal Ordinances: Beekeeping (2026)

Sec. 4-11, added by Ord. No. 3588 in 1993 and amended by Ord. No. 7874 on October 9, 2012, opens by declaring that 'maintaining or keeping honey bees or honey bee hives in the City is unlawful' unless all four listed conditions are met, making beekeeping a conditional activity rather than a by-right one. The distance rule bars hives within 150 feet of the boundary of any school ground, public park or public playground, which functionally rules out beekeeping on lots that back up to a city park or elementary school.

The placement rule requires hives to sit within ten feet of the rear yard property line and to face away from that line, a specific orientation requirement rather than a simple setback, so a hive that meets the ten-foot distance but faces the wrong direction still violates the section. Density is capped at one hive per half-acre of property, meaning a typical quarter-acre residential lot in the city cannot legally support even a single hive under a literal reading, while larger lots can host one hive per half-acre they hold.

The final condition requires the hive to be 'situated on the property so as to direct the flight pattern of the bees up and out from the hive,' which in practice means using entrance orientation, flyway barriers or elevation to route foraging bees over fence lines rather than across a neighbor's yard at head height. Enforcement, like the rest of Chapter 4, runs through the city's animal control officers, who can investigate nuisance or ordinance complaints and issue citations under Sec. 4-3.