Polk County cannot ban or set setbacks for registered honeybee colonies. Florida Statute 586.10 preempts all beekeeping regulation to the state Department of Agriculture (FDACS). Beekeepers must register colonies with FDACS and follow FDACS best-management practices.
Florida centralizes beekeeping regulation. FS 586.10 preempts the authority to regulate, inspect, and permit managed honeybee colonies - and to set their placement and location - to the state through FDACS, superseding any county or city ordinance. Polk County therefore cannot prohibit beekeeping or impose its own hive-setback rules on registered, inspected colonies. Beekeepers must register every colony with the FDACS apiary program (free) and comply with FDACS best-management-practice requirements, which govern hive density and placement by lot size. Private HOA covenants may still restrict hives because they operate under contract law rather than as government ordinances.
Enforced by FDACS, not the county. Keeping unregistered colonies or ignoring FDACS BMPs can lead to state inspection orders and colony removal.
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