Beekeeping
(a) Description and purpose. The purpose of this section is to establish sound beekeeping practices, which are intended to avoid problems that may otherwise be associated with the keeping of bees in populated areas. Where honey bees are of benefit to mankind, by providing agriculture, fruit and garden pollination services, and by furnishing honey, wax and other useful products, and gentle strains of honey bees can be maintained within populated areas in reasonable densities without causing a nuisance if the bees are property located and carefully managed and maintained, the city allows such use as an accessory use in all zoning districts only when in accordance with this section and only when in compliance with all applicable rules and regulations of the city and state. Notwithstanding compliance with the various requirements of this section, it shall be unlawful for any beekeeper to keep any colony or colonies in such a manner or of such a disposition as to cause a public nuisance, and/or so as to cause any unhealthy condition, interfere with the normal use and enjoyment of human or animal life of others or interfere with the normal use and enjoyment of any public property or property of others.
(b) [State regulation and registration.] Section 4-12-1 et seq. of the Rhode Island General Laws regulates apiculture and G.L. 1956, § 4-12-12 requires that all apiaries in the state are registered with the director of the Department of Environmental Management.
(c) [Definitions.] As used in this section, the following words and terms shall have the meanings ascribed in G.L. 1956, Chapter 4-12-2, Definitions, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
(1) Abandoned colony or apiary means any colony or apiary which is not currently registered and has not been registered within the preceding two years and/or which the state inspector is unable to locate the owner and is unable to inspect due to conditions within the colony which render the colony or apiary uninspectable. Apiary means the assembly of one or more colonies of bees at a single location.
(2) Apiary means any place or location where one or more colonies or nuclei of honeybees are kept.
(3) Authorized official means the state official authorized to inspect apiaries in the state of origin of the bees being transported into or through the state.
(4) Beekeeper means any individual, person, firm, association or corporation owning, possessing, or controlling one or more colonies of bees for the production of honey, beeswax, or byproducts, or for the pollination of crops for either personal or commercial use.
(5) Beekeeping equipment means all hives, hive bodies, supers, frames, combs, bottom boards, covers, excluders, screens, escape boards, feeders, hive tools, slatted racks, or other devices or boxes or other containers which may have been used in the capturing or holding of swarms, and including honey which may be or have been used in or on any hive, colony, nuclei or used in the rearing or manipulation of bees or their brood.
(6) Bees means any stage of the common honey bee (Apis mellifera) at any stage of its life kept for the production of honey, wax, or pollination, excluding the African honeybee (Apis mellifera scutellata) and any hybrids.
(7) Colony means the bees inhabiting a single hive, nuclei boc or dwelling place.
(8) Director means the director of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.
(9) Disease means American foulbrood and other infections, contagious or communicable disease affecting bees or their brood.
(10) Eradicate means the destruction and or disinfection of infected and/or infested bees, equipment and/or pests by burning or by treatment approved by the state inspector.
(11) Feral colony means an unowned or unmanaged colony of bees existing naturally.
(12) Hive means any manmade domicile with removable frames for keeping bees.
(13) Inspector means a person appointed by the director of the Department of Environmental Management to check for diseased conditions or pest infestations in one or more apiaries as authorized by law.
(14) Pests means the honey bee tracheal mite, Acrapis woodi, and the Varroa mite, Varroa jacobsoni, and other arthropod pests detrimental to honey bees; and genetic strains of the Africanized bee subspecies, Apis melliflora adansoni and/or Apis mellifera scutellata.
(15) Swarms means a natural division of a colony in the process of becoming a feral colony.
(d) Standards and requirements.
(1) Registration. As required by Rhode Island State Law, all honey bee colonies shall be registered annually with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, Division of Agriculture, in compliance with their rules and regulations, and a copy of said registration shall be submitted annually to the city's zoning officer and animal control officer.
(2) Beekeeping equipment. Bees shall be kept in hives with removable frames which shall be kept in sound and usable condition.
(3) Colony densities. It is unlawful to keep more than the following number of colonies on any lot of land within the city, based upon the size and/or configuration of the lot on which the apiary is located. All setbacks and other regulations shall be met.
a. A lot of a minimum of 7,000 square feet: One hive.
b. A lot of minimum of 7,000 square feet but 10,000 square feet or less: Two hives.
c. A lot of at least one-half acre (21,768 square feet) but less than one acre (43,560 square feet): Four hives.
d. One acre or larger lot size: Eight hives
e. Regardless of tract size, where all hives are situated at least 200 feet in any direction from all property lines on which the apiary is situated, there shall be no limit to the number of colonies.
(4) Hive placement. Hives shall be located in a side or rear yard only and shall be set back a minimum of ten feet from any adjoining property line. Hives shall be kept as far away as possible from roads, sidewalks, and rights-of-way. Hives shall be placed on a lot so that general flight patterns avoid contact with humans and domestic animals.
(5) [Commercial or industrial building hives.] Commercial or industrial building rooftop hives or garage roof-mounted hives shall meet all applicable building codes and standards and shall apply for and receive a building permit prior to commencement of work.
(6) Water source. Each beekeeper shall ensure that a convenient source of water is available to all bees at all times during the year on the lot on which the hive(s) is located so that the bees will not congregate at swimming pools, faucets, pet watering bowls, bird baths or other water sources where they may cause human, bird or domestic pet contact.
(7) Queens. All colonies shall be maintained with marked queens. In any instance in which a colony exhibits unusual aggressive characteristics by stinging or attempting to sting without provocation or exhibits an unusual disposition toward swarming, it shall be the duty of the beekeeper to promptly requeen the colony with another marked queen. Queens shall be selected from stock bred for gentleness and nonswarming characteristics.
(8) Flyway Zone. In each instance in which any colony is situated within ten feet of a developed public or private property line on the lot upon which the apiary is situated, as measured from the nearest point of the hive to the property line, the beekeeper shall establish and maintain a flyway barrier at least six feet in height consisting of a solid wall or fence parallel to the property line and extending five feet beyond the hive in each direction so that all bees upon leaving the hive are forced to fly at an elevation of at least six feet above ground level over the flyway structure.
(9) General maintenance. Each beekeeper shall ensure that no bee comb or other materials are left upon the grounds of the apiary site. Upon their removal from the hive, all such materials shall promptly be disposed of in a sealed container or placed within a building or other bee-proof enclosure.
(10) Prohibited. The keeping by any person of honeybee colonies in the city not in strict compliance with this chapter is prohibited. Any bee colony not residing in a hive structure intended for beekeeping, or any swarm of bees, or any colony not residing in a standard or homemade hive structure which, by virtue of its condition, has obviously been abandoned by the beekeeper, is unlawful and may be summarily destroyed or removed from the city by the mayor or designee. Unless such bees present an imminent threat to public safety, the Department of Environmental Management, Division of Agriculture, and the city's animal control officer shall first be contacted to assess the possibility of collecting and relocating the bees by a person or company possessing the means to safely remove said bees.
(Ch. 506, § VIII, 7-20-10; Ch. 877, § I, 6-6-23)