Honey bees (apis mellifera) are essential to our ecosystem by providing agriculture, fruit, and garden pollination services and by furnishing honey, and other useful products. Domestic strains of honey bees have been selectively bred for desirable traits, including gentleness, honey production, tendency not to swarm and non-aggressive behavior, characteristics which are desirable to foster and maintain. Bees, and associated hives, may be kept in the City of Seven Hills and shall be governed by the following regulations and guidelines found in this section.
(a) Definitions. As used in this section, the following words and terms shall have the meanings ascribed in this section unless the context of their usage indicates another usage.
(1) “Apiary” means any place where one or more colonies or nucleus colony of bees are kept;
(2) “Bees” means any stage of any species of the genus Apis;
(3) “Beekeeper” means a person who owns or has charge of one or more colonies of bees;
(4) “Beehive” means any modern frame hive, box hive, box or any other natural or artificial receptacle, or any part thereof, that may be used as a domicile for bees;
(5) “Colony” means the beehive and its equipment, including bees, combs, and brood;
(6) “Beekeeping Equipment” means anything used in the operation of an apiary, such as hive bodies supers, frames, top and bottom boards, hive tools, smoker, gloves, veil, protective clothing, and extracting equipment;
(7) “Tract” means a contiguous parcel or land under common ownership;
(8) “Nuc” or “nucleus colony” means a small hive smaller than the usual hive box designed for a particular purpose;
(9) “Undeveloped property” means any idle land that is not improved or actually in the process of being improved with residential, commercial, industrial, church, park, school or governmental facilities or other structures or improvements intended for human use occupancy and grounds maintained in association therewith. The term shall be deemed to include property developed exclusively as a street or highway or property used for commercial agricultural purposes.
(b) Zoning Districts. Bees may be kept in Residential Districts.
(c) Application, Permit, and Renewal. Before the keeping of bees may occur, an annual permit shall first be obtained from the Building Commissioner. Applications shall be filed with the Building Department. The permit application shall be accompanied by a fifty dollar ($50.00) fee paid to the City. All renewal applications shall be filed with the Building Department by December 31st along with a fifty dollar ($50.00) fee paid to the City. Permit applications shall include the following information:
(1) The name, phone number, home address and email address of the applicant;
(2) The size and location of the subject property;
(3) A proposal containing the number of hives the applicant seeks to keep on the property;
(4) The permission of the property owner for the applicant to keep bees, if the beekeeper is not the owner and written consent of abutting property owners;
(5) An attestation that the applicant has attended a beekeeping class;
(6) The applicant’s Ohio Beekeeper number as provided by the Ohio Department of Agriculture; and
(7) The applicant’s Apiary #(s) as provided by the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
If the applicant does not have their Ohio Beekeeper number and/or their Apiary #(s) at the time of filing then the Director of Public Safety may grant a permit on the condition that the applicant provides their Ohio Beekeeper number and/or their Apiary #(s) within thirty (30) days of approval of the application.
All applications shall contain a waiver, signed by the applicant, providing permission for any City official to enter the property for the purpose of determining the beekeeper’s compliance with this section. Permit shall not be transferable. The City shall provide the property owner at least forty-eight (48) hours written notice prior to entering the property.
(c) Inspection. Within thirty (30) days of the Building Commissioner or his or her designee receiving the initial application, he or she shall cause the lot to be inspected. The person(s) inspecting the premises shall determine if the applicant is in compliance with this Code. The person(s) inspecting the premises shall not manipulate any hives during the inspection.
(d) Regulations.
(1) Beekeeper must file the application.
(2) Beekeeper must abide by the Ohio Revised Code Chapter 909 Apiaries.
(3) Beekeeper may not opt out of the annual inspection by the county or state bee inspector as part of the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s inspection program.
(4) Each beekeeper shall ensure that a convenient source of water is available to the colony at all times bees remain active outside of the hive. The water source shall be closer to the hives than any neighboring source. The water source may be natural such as a pond, stream, or artificial source. The water source shall be on the beekeeper’s property.
(5) Each beekeeper shall ensure that no wax, comb, or other material that might encourage robbing by other bees are left upon the grounds of the apiary tract. 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;
(6) For each beehive permitted to be maintained under this ordinance, there may also be maintained one nuc upon the same apiary tract;
(7) No more than 1 beehive shall be kept for each 7,500 square foot tract (an acre = 43,560 square feet), and no beehive shall be kept on a tract less than 7,500 square feet in area. If an applicant has a greater number of beehives than permitted by this section, and possessed those beehives prior to the enactment of this section, then the Director of Public Safety may grant the application;
(8) No beehive shall be kept closer than fifteen (15) feet to any lot line and twenty (20) feet to a dwelling or the permitted placement of a dwelling on another parcel, and no beehive shall be kept in a front yard or side street yard. The front of any beehive shall face away from the property line of the residential proeprty closest to the beehive;
(9) No hives are permitted on any tract where the setback requirements cannot be satisfied regardless of tract size;
(10) Each beekeeper shall maintain his/her beekeeping equipment in good condition, including keeping the hives painted if they have been painted but are peeling or flaking, and securing unused equipment from weather, potential theft or vandalism, and occupancy by swarms. It shall not be a defense to this ordinance that a beekeeper’s unused equipment attracted a swarm and that the beekeeper is not intentionally keeping bees.
(e) Permit Revocation. The Building Commissioner may revoke a permit at any time if the holder materially fails to adhere to the provisions of this section.
(f) Penalty. Whoever violates any of the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree for a first offense. The second violation within any two-year time period shall be charged as a misdemeanor of the second degree. A third or more violation within any two-year time period shall be charged as a misdemeanor of the first degree. Each day that the violation continues shall constitute a separate offense. A separate offense shall be deemed committed each day during or on which a violation or noncomplianc occurs or continues.
(Ord. 18-2022. Passed 4-12-22.)