Waukegan, IL Animal Ordinances: Beekeeping (2026)
Key Facts
- Permit required
- None, complaint-driven only
- Standard
- Vexation, annoyance, or danger to others
- Investigating agency
- Waukegan Police Department
- Removal deadline
- 5 days after notice
- Governing section
- § 15-8 (Code 1974 § 26-25)
- Penalty
- $25-$750 per day, § 1-13(a)
Summary
Waukegan doesn't require a permit to keep bees, but it lets police order hives removed within five days once a neighbor complains that the bees are a vexation, annoyance, or danger, giving the city an on-demand enforcement tool instead of upfront registration.
No person shall keep hives or swarms of bees in or upon his premises to the vexation, annoyance or danger to any other person. Whenever any complaint is made to the department of police, it shall forthwith be investigated and the owner or keeper of such swarms or hives of bees shall, if the occasion warrants, be given a notice to remove the swarms or hives of bees within five days.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 113).
Full Breakdown
City Code § 15-8, 'Keeping of bees restricted,' doesn't ban backyard hives outright and doesn't require a city beekeeping license or permit application the way some neighboring towns do. ' That five-day removal clock only starts running after a substantiated nuisance finding, so a beekeeper whose hives aren't bothering anyone faces no city paperwork at all, but one working complaint can force every hive off the property inside a week. The section traces back to the city's original 1974 code (§ 26-25) and hasn't been rewritten since, so it still runs on the old vexation/annoyance/danger standard rather than a modern distance-from-property-line or hive-count rule.
Violations & Fines
Failing to remove hives within the five days given after a substantiated nuisance complaint is enforceable under the Code's general penalty, § 1-13(a): a fine of $25.00 to $750.00, with each day the bees stay past the deadline counted as a separate offense. Because § 15-8 sets no advance permit requirement, the only trigger for enforcement is an investigated complaint, not routine inspection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a permit to keep bees in Waukegan?
What happens if a neighbor complains about my bees?
Can the city order my bees removed without a neighbor complaint?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Waukegan
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