Where Is Beekeeping Still Illegal?

Despite New York City's recent decision to legalize beekeeping, and the fact that many cities invite amazing feats of urban beekeeping, beekeeping remains illegal across the U.S. We need your help to find out where beekeeping is still equated with peddling heroin in school zones and smashing a barstool over someone's head.

March 24, 2010 at 4:42PM by Kim Flottum | comment

Rooftop bees, like those kept by Yeshwant Chitalkar in Brooklyn, N.Y., were illegal up until very recently.

New York City, Denver, Cleveland, Minneapolis ... the world of urban beekeeping is expanding at a rapid rate, as cities legalize beekeeping. That has beekeepers and beehives popping up on rooftops, balconies, backyards, community gardens, front porches and in city centers in more and more places.

Common political sense and a strong desire to be a part of the urban environment have finally changed outdated and unbalanced regulations ... but not everywhere. (See photos of beekeepers in illegal and recently legalized cities.)

Having bees is still forbidden in many places. Sometimes for good, but too often for unreasonable reasons. It’s not only Cary, N.C., or Akron, Ohio that can’t see the benefits of bees.

Bee Culture magazine, and The Daily Green want to identify those beeless places and see if we can’t help them see the light – but we need your help. If you know a county, town, city or place that outlaws bees, beekeepers and beekeeping let us know.

Send your name, city and state to me at kim@BeeCulture.com – along with a photo of a beekeeper doing business there, anyway, and a short description of the situation – and we’ll post the list for the world to see. Put NO BUZZ ZONE in the subject line.

Help us help stranded and abandoned beekeepers in those lost places. Let’s put an end to every NO BUZZ ZONE once and for all!

And if you're ready to get started with your own urban hives, check out these 5 questions for first-time urban beekeepers.

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