Yolo County, CA Animal Ordinances: Beekeeping (2026)

Sec. 506(k) splits beekeeping into two tracks. Commercial beekeeping used for pollination is allowed in all agricultural zones and in the Rural Residential RR-2 and RR-5 zones, but the hive owner must keep the colony's registration current with the Yolo County Agricultural Commissioner, including required hive-movement notices; an unregistered colony must be removed from the property and cannot return for at least six weeks after it is registered elsewhere. Non-commercial urban beekeeping is a by-right use in every agricultural, residential, commercial, and industrial zone, but the R-L, R-M, and R-H residential zones add four conditions: the hive owner must live in a dwelling on the same parcel as the registered hives; no more than two permanent colonies are allowed, plus up to two temporary colonies for hive separation or a new swarm, which must be removed within two weeks; colonies must sit in the rear yard at least twenty-five feet from a public or private street and fifteen feet from an abutting property, screened by a wood or other fence at least four feet high between the hives and the nearest neighbor; and a permanent fresh water source must be kept within fifteen feet of the hives.

If bees on a residential-zone property become a nuisance, the Zoning Administrator can order remedial action, and Sec. 506(k)(3) states that a property already declared a bee-hazard site cannot host hives again until that declaration is lifted in writing.