There are rules for keeping bees in our district, depending on where you live. To find out what zone your property is in, refer to schedule 1 in the bylaw.
Rural area
There is no maximum number of hives for properties within a rural area.
If there is no solid barrier (such as a wall, dense hedge or fencing) of 1.8m, the hives much be placed at least 5m from the boundary.
Lifestyle area
Hives cannot be closer than 5m to property boundary/residential dwelling.
Except with prior written approval
The number of hives in urban and lifestyle areas are:
- 500-2000m2: 2 hives
- 2001-4000m2: 4 hives
- 4001+ m2: 6 hives
Properties under 500m2
Beehives are not allowed unless you have prior written approval from Council.
Important
- Where you place hives is important for minimising nuisance to neighbours.
- Manage bee excrement: Make sure you position hives in a way to avoid excrement dropping on neighbouring washing lines, vehicles and buildings.
- Manage flight paths of bees: Bees will fly at head height for some distance from their hives unless their surrounding environment directs their flight path upwards. Bees can be encouraged to fly above head height if you place a flyway barrier 1-2m from the hive entrance.
- Barriers you can use to direct a flight path include: a wall, dense hedging or a fence.