Subd. 1. Definitions. For the purpose of this subsection, the following definitions apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
Apiary. Any place or location where one or more colonies or nuclei of honey bees are kept.
Beekeeper. A person who owns or has charge of one or more colonies of honey bees.
Beekeeping Equipment. Anything used in the operation of an apiary, such as hive bodies, supers, frames, top and bottom boards, and extractors.
Colony. An aggregate of honey bees consisting principally of workers but having, when perfect, one queen and, at times, drones, brood, combs, and honey.
Hive. A structure manufactured to house a colony, including a hive stand, a bottom board, the hive body, frames/combs, queen excluder (optional), inner cover, and outer cover. One hive houses one swarm consisting of one and queen and worker honey bees.
Honey Bee. Any stage of the common honey bee, apis mellifera species of European origin.
Nucleus Colony. A small quantity of honey bees with a queen housed in a smaller than usual hive box designed for a particular purpose.
Subd. 2. Keeping of Honey Bees.
1. Purpose. Honey bees provide substantial benefits to people and the environment, including, but not limited to, pollination of crops and production of honey and wax. It shall be unlawful for any person to place, establish, or maintain any hive, stand, box, apiary, or keep any honey bees in or upon premises within the corporate limits of the city unless the honey bees are kept in accordance with the provisions of this subdivision.
2. Permit Required.
a. Prior to installing, altering, or establishing a colony of honey bees within a hive, the beekeeper must obtain a permit from the city. Application for said permit shall be made to the city upon forms furnished by the city.
i. The permit application shall including the following data:
(a) Name and address of applicant and property owner;
(b) Street address and legal description of the lot upon which the honey bees would be kept; and
(c) Location of any schools or day care facility located within 200 feet of property.
ii. All applications shall be accompanied by an application fee, as required by the city.
b. The city, upon written notice, may revoke a permit for failure to comply with provisions of this section or any condition(s) set forth in the permit.
3. Beekeeping standards.
a. Honey bee colonies meeting the requirements of this subdivision may be kept only upon a lot containing a single dwelling unit, as an accessory use within the R-1 Single-Family Residential District, R-1E Single-Family Residential Estates, R-2 Medium Density Residential District, and A Agricultural District.
b. Only honey bee species which are viable in northern climates according to the Department of Entomology at the University of Minnesota shall be allowed.
c. Beekeepers shall own and reside at the property upon which said honey bees are kept.
d. The number of colonies on any lot or parcel is limited to one colony per 10,000 square feet of lot area. At no time shall a person be permitted to keep or maintain more than three colonies on any lot or parcel.
e. Placement of hives:
i. No colony or hive shall be kept or maintained within any front yard. In the case of a corner lot, no colony or hive shall be kept or maintained within the yard abutting an existing or dedicated public street.
ii. No person shall establish or maintain any hive or colony within 50 feet of any occupied dwelling, except the dwelling of the owner of the subject property.
iii. Hives shall be at least 25 feet from any property line, sidewalk, alley, or other public way as measured from the nearest point on the hive to the property line, sidewalk, alley, or other public right-of-way.
iv. No hive shall be kept or maintained within 200 feet of a school or day care facility.
f. Hive standards:
i. Honey bee colonies shall be kept in hives with removable frames, which shall be kept in sound and usable condition.
ii. Hives shall be placed on a hive stand manufactured for that purpose and shall not be placed on cinder blocks, pallets, logs, bricks, blocks, railroad ties, or similar materials.
iii. Hives shall not contain hive bodies with more than a standard 10 frame design and shall not exceed nine and five-eighths inches in height.
g. The beekeeper shall ensure that a convenient, continuous, open source of water is available within 25 feet of the hive, stand boxes, or apiaries and within the required fence by the following standard.
h. The beekeeper shall ensure that no wax comb or other material that might encourage robbing by other honey bees are left upon the grounds of the subject lot or parcel. Such materials once removed from the site shall be handled and stored in sealed containers, or placed within a building or other insect-proof container.
i. The beekeeper shall maintain beekeeping equipment in good condition and shall secure unused equipment occupancy by swarms.
j. Violation of this subdivision shall be subject to violation and penalty as prescribed in City Code Section 130 (Violations and Penalties).
4. Removal.
a. Honey bees shall not be kept in such a manner as to constitute a nuisance as provided for under Chapter 5 of the City Code, or in violation of any other subdivision of the City Code.
b. Persons no longer intending to keep honey bees on the subject property shall notify the city in writing and remove the operation.
Subd. 3. Operation Removal. The operation shall be removed from the property upon permit expiration and/or permit revocation. Failure to remove the operation shall be considered a nuisance under Chapter 5 of the City Code.